D6 Scooby-Doo! Streets of Coolsville: The Mystery Begins
by wsdsrdbw4096
Summary: As the title suggests, this story is a rewrite of the 2009 live action film The Mystery Begins with its own differentiation from the source material. First entry of my new Streets of Coolsville series. A group of teenagers and a dog come together after they're accused of murdering a student at their high school. Please read and review!
1. A typical morning for Shaggy

**Author's Note: Here's another Scooby AU series I've got in mind, folks!**

 **As the title of the series suggests, this series is named after the Batman comic book _Batman: Streets of Gotham._**

 **Like _Coolsville Central_ , this series functions as a modern-day reboot of _Scooby-Doo_ and shares plenty of characteristics with the series in question with a few deviations.**

 **For instance, Coolsville is now a city in California and located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area and co-exists with Crystal Cove. In fact, Coolsville is now the county seat of Crystal Cove County.**

 **This series is inspired by a handful of (mainly serious) Scooby fanfics that depicts the gang's relations with Daphne's father as being strained, including stories that also depicts Fred not seeing eye-to-eye with Daphne's father on numerous occa** **sions.**

 **With that being said, the parents from the mainstream Scooby continuity are utilized in this series, not the SDMI parents.**

 **As with _Coolsville Central_ , this series incorporates elements from the Post-Crisis, pre-New 52 DC Universe and the DC Animated Universe.**

 **Also, this story is the second of my stories to be a rewrite of the 2009 live action film _The Mystery Begins_ , following the story of the same name that functions as the origin story for my reboot of SDMI in D3.**

 **As with its D3 counterpart, this story is an origin story and also includes modifications of its own from the source material.**

 **In addition, this story incorporates elements from Little Gem Magnolia's story _Textbook Murder._**

 **In this series, all human members of Mystery Inc. are born in 1993.**

 **I don't own _Scooby-Doo_. Hanna-Barbera Productions and Warner Bros. does.**

* * *

Chapter 1: A typical morning for Shaggy

 _October 2, 2009_

 **(Shaggy's Point of View)**

It was yet another annoying morning when the alarm clock went off, just as I felt like I was getting comfortable in bed.

I swear that darn thing has been resetting itself every night so that with each passing day, it goes off earlier than it did the day before.

Either it's time for me to get a new alarm clock or it's time for me to look forward to when daylight saving time ends so I can sleep in an extra hour.

As I shut off the alarm clock and took a look at the time, I realized that I was mistaken on my initial thoughts that the alarm clock resetting itself so that it will go off earlier than it did the day before.

7:45. Drat.

With no time to think, I jumped off my bed, hurried to the washroom to do my usual business before changing into my usual clothes, not giving a rats rear end on whether the shirt and pants have been washed. Here we go again.

After finishing my business, I quickly grab my school bag and raced up the stairs to the dining room.

My Great Dane and old buddy Scooby Doo was still sleeping in his bed, and I made the effort to not wake him up as I hurried up the stairs.

Mags was already seated at the dining table eating breakfast when I arrived, and she looked up to me as I pulled a chair out.

"About time you got up." She said to me. "You better hurry up and finish your breakfast, because the bus is gonna arrive soon."

I nodded as I quickly dig in, keeping an eye on my watch as I ate.

Eventually, I finish up just as Mags headed for the door with her school bag. Time for me to head out as well.

With the bowls and spoon washed, I quickly went to grab my school bag, rushed to the front door to put on my shoes and hurried out the door, locking it after it was closed.

Rushing for the bus stop, I saw the big yellow bus pulling into the stop and Maggie ready to get on.

With all my might, I hurried over to the bus stop just as Maggie got onto the open doors.

Fortunately, the driver saw me running and as I made it onto the bus, he sighed as I walked past him.

"That's the fifth time your sister has asked me to wait for you, Mr. Rogers." He reprimanded me.

"Sorry, sir." I quickly said. "Like, it won't happen again."

The driver grunted before closing the doors and pressed on the gas and the bus was on its way to Coolsville Central High School, which is one of the 12 high schools in the city.

Our stop is the last stop on the route before the bus continues on to Coolsville Central High School, so I don't know much on where the other students get on and off.

I believe an introduction is in order. The name's Rogers. Norville Rogers, but many people call me Shaggy, mainly because of the hair, not that I minded.

Maggie is my twin sister, and you can say she's older than me. After all, according to Mom, she was born five minutes before I was.

Speaking of Mom, her name's Wendy and she's a medical doctor working at the Coolsville Don Messick Memorial Hospital, specializing in dental care and is certified to do oral care and oral surgery.

As I made my way to the back of the bus, I found that a majority of seats are taken and Mags has already joined her friends at the back.

Shrugging, I looked around to find a seat, but most of them were already taken.

With Mags still chatting with her friends near the front of the bus, where the seats are pretty much filled, I have no choice but to head to the back of the bus.

Just then, I found myself flying towards the floor and managed to break my fall by grabbing onto the seats by my sides.

"Having a nice trip, Shaggy?" That familiar voice asked me mockingly as I got up.

"Yeah, I sure did." I said as I turned to the guy who tripped me, whose name is Thomas.

That guy may look beefy, but I can assure you it's not the fat that made him look beefy. After all, he's a star athlete in the school's football team.

Also seated with Thomas in the row was his friend Fred Jones, who's the quarterback in the school's football team.

You certainly can say that Fred's the handsome kind of guy, in fact, I heard that a lot of girls are looking to go out on a date with him.

After my encounter with Thomas, I continued on towards the rear of the bus, whereupon I managed to find a vacant seat.

Much of the bus ride was uneventful, though along the way, the bus had to pull over to the curb in order to let a couple of cop cars with their sirens flashing pass through.

Oh, speaking of cops, I almost forgot to mention Dad.

Our Dad's name is Sam and he's a cop. He has been serving with the Coolsville Police Department for quite a while, well, since 2006. He's a police captain, to be exact, which also means that he's a senior figure in the city's police department.

Wait, so if he's a senior police officer, how is it that he went from beat cop to police captain in three years?

He didn't. One thing I should tell you all is that I'm not a native of Coolsville, nor were Mags and I born in the City of Mysteries.

Mags and I were born in New York, and New York's where we have adopted our old pal Scooby-Doo.

Anyways, Dad was a young cop with the New York City Police Department when Mags and I were born, and prior to becoming a cop, he was serving in the Marine Corps.

It was during his service with the Marine Corps that he also met Mom. Back then, she was an Air Force medical officer while he was commissioned to the military police and assigned to a unit that was deployed to the Middle East during the Gulf War.

Anyways, Dad raised through the ranks in the NYPD after his discharge from the Marine Corps, becoming a detective and eventually a lieutenant when he was transferred to Coolsville three years ago.

I sure wonder if Dad ever regretted accepting the transfer to Coolsville, because it has a reputation as being the second-most dangerous city in the country, second only to Gotham City, not to mention the continuous scandals and rampant corruption in the City of Mysteries.

I suppose that explains why Dad frequently has to work overtime, perhaps it was due to his efforts to clean things up in the department, what, with him being a senior figure in the police department.

And of course, how could I forget my old buddy Scooby-Doo?

His real first name is Scoobert, and he's a Great Dane with brown fur, always wears a blue collar with a diamond-shaped dog tag with the initials "SD" on it and has black spots.

One thing to note is that he has some rather interesting characteristics for a Great Dane.

First off, he has a longer than usual tail that seems to have a mind of its own.

Second off, he has opposite thumbs on his paws, which enables him to hold items like a human.

And third, he talks.

Yes. You heard me right. Scooby-Doo talks. I honestly don't know how he talks, but he does. Mags also agrees with that assertion.

Anyways, it doesn't take long before our high school building comes into view. With its Edwardian-style architecture, the place does seem a bit spooky.

Oh well, that feeling must be from the fact that I haven't fully adjusted to living in the City of Mysteries even after moving from the Big Apple three years ago.

Soon, the school bus pulled into the front lot of the school, and everyone got up from their seats when it came to a stop.

As I made my way to the front, I tripped over Thomas' foot again.

"It's just too easy!" Thomas laughed as I got up.

* * *

A short while later, I was at my locker and trying to get the locker door unlocked, or more to the point, trying to get that scrap metal of a combination lock to turn and hit the right numbers.

I swear these lockers haven't been replaced since the school had its last major renovation in the 1960s, because you can see the rust on some areas on the locker door and the lockers themselves sure looked aged.

No matter how hard I try to pull the blasted door open, the locker door wouldn't budge.

With all my might, I pulled on the door handle, grunting as I tried to pull the blasted door open.

Just then, the broken lock gave into my pulling and tugging, but I was completely unprepared for the door to suddenly flew open.

Before you know it, I find myself stumbling backwards and fell upside down into a garbage bin on wheels.

I certainly don't know what happened next, as everything around me was pitch dark, though my feet were moving as I tried to get myself out of the moving garbage bin.

Just then, the garbage bin hit something and I found myself flying out of it and ended up sailing through the air and landed right in a chair.

My eyes adjusted before I found myself seated across the desk from Principal Sheldon Deedle, who was signing a file when I landed right in the chair.

"Locker troubles again, Mr. Rogers?" Principal Deedle asked me without looking up.

"You can say that again, Principal Deedle." I nodded. "I sure wonder when will we get new lockers?"

"You know Crystal Cove County Public Schools." Principal Deedle replied. "Always telling me and other school principals across the county that they don't have the budget to replace the old lockers."

"Can't say I'm surprised, sir." I shrugged. "What, with all those scandals at the county government and in the city almost every other week."

Principal Deedle nodded in agreement.

"Anyways, Mr. Rogers...Norville, there's something on my mind that has me thinking..." He said to me. "You're new to Coolsville, are you?"

"Like, you can say that." I nodded. "My family and I moved here from the Big Apple when Maggie and I were 13. Still trying to adjust to life in a small city."

"I can see that." Principal Deedle nodded. "I noticed that Margaret has been doing well socially with her group of friends and is always the happy, go-to person around school. Not sure if I can say the same for you..."

"I do hang out with some people, Principal Deedle." I quickly said. "Like, with my gymnasium club."

"Oh yes, you sure are an amazing gymnast, I'll hand you that." Principal Deedle said. "Having had helped Central win a number of awards in state competitions. I'm more of talking about outside gym class and outside school time."

"Well, I do talk to my classmates from time to time, sir." I said. "It's not like I prefer being a social outcast."

"Yes, I understand." Principal Deedle nodded. "What I really wanted to say, Norville, is try to expand your scope of friends and not try to limit yourself to the very few people you do hang around with."

I nodded, though I wasn't exactly sure if that can be accomplished.

After all, while I may have contributed to Central winning two state gymnasium competitions in a row, not much people are interested in hanging out with a guy who's a gymnast but has a large appetite and doesn't exactly enjoy working out.

"I understand, sir." I nodded.

It was then that the school bell rang, and I realized that I've got five minutes before class starts.

"Anyways, I believe you should get going to class." Principal Deedle said to me as I got up from the chair. "And think about what I just said about making friends, Norville."

"Yes, sir." I nodded before noting him offering his fist.

"Give it a good one." Principal Deedle smiled as he offered his fist.

I nodded as I made a fist and bumped his offered fist before making my way out of his office and towards my morning first period class.

* * *

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	2. After school & a walk in the park

Chapter 2: Lunch time, after school & a walk in the park with Scooby-Doo

 **(Third person)**

Later at lunch period, Shaggy headed out of the school building, where he saw Scooby waiting for him outside the main entrance like he always does.

"Hey Scoob old buddy." Shaggy said in greeting as Scooby released the dog lease in his mouth and started panting and waved his tail excitedly.

"Hey Raggy." Scooby nodded as Shaggy leaned down to pat his head. "Row's rour day ro far?"

"Oh, the usual, old buddy." Shaggy replied. "Anyways, let's head to the Malt Shop across the street for lunch, man."

"Rokay." Scooby nodded as Shaggy put on the leash and started leading the way.

* * *

Later that afternoon after school, Shaggy and Maggie got on the afternoon school bus to head home.

Normally, during most school days, the siblings do stay back after school for extracurricular activities.

Maggie is a member of the school's student council, who frequently advises the school on extracurricular events, organization of the clubs and activities, student issues and the school budget.

She was elected as a councilor for the juniors near the end of the previous school year and Shaggy did his part in organizing her campaign, though his participation didn't do much in raising his profile with him being mainly involved behind the scenes such as drawing posters.

On days with no student council meetings after school, Maggie also takes part in yearbook design and in the drama club.

As for Shaggy, he's mainly involved in gymnasium practice and guitar club after school, though he rarely interacts much with the other students outside of the meetings and practices and has largely remained to himself.

Occasionally, Scooby would be at the school main entrance waiting for them to finish with their meetings and then they would head home together.

Not that they live far from school, as the daily school bus ride from their house to Coolsville Central takes about ten minutes and by Shaggy's estimation, walking home should take them about 20-30 minutes.

For this particular day, though, the siblings decided to take the late bus home.

And just like the morning, Shaggy once again tripped over Thomas' foot as he made his way to the front to get off the bus when it arrived at their stop.

It was an act that Maggie witnessed as she followed her brother, and she almost felt the urge to stomp on the jock's foot.

Instead of following through with what was in her mind, Maggie decided to follow her brother off the bus.

"Why didn't you stand up to him, Norville?" Maggie asked her brother when they arrived at the front porch of their house.

"Who?" Shaggy asked as he fumbled for his keys.

"You know who I'm talking about." Maggie placed her hands on her hips as her brother unlocked the front door. "That jock Thomas Iverson."

"You know me, Mags." Shaggy shrugged as he opened the door. "Like, I'm not the type who likes fighting."

"You know that your unwillingness to stand up to yourself is exactly why you don't have much friends to hang out with." Maggie said as they walked into their house. "Even though that jock is the mayor's son, you shouldn't let him continue to trip you the way he did."

When her brother didn't respond as he took off his sneakers and made his way to the basement, Maggie went after him.

"You could've lost some teeth from his continuing to trip you on the bus, Norville." Maggie said. "I'm serious!"

"Yeah, I know." Shaggy nodded. "And so am I. Last thing I want is to get into trouble with Vice Principal Grimes for his no-fighting policy on school grounds."

"Maybe you should ask him if the school bus is considered to be 'school grounds' when you meet him, Norville." Maggie said. "If it is, then Thomas is breaking school policy."

Shaggy nodded in agreement before the siblings continued on with their usual Friday afternoon routine.

* * *

Some hours went by before their parents Sam and Wendy returned home, followed by dinnertime and eventually, Shaggy and Maggie were out in the night walking Scooby in the nearby park.

Although Coolsville has a reputation as the second most dangerous city in the country, the neighbourhood they live in is relatively safe, plus both siblings have taken self-defence classes in the past when they were living in New York.

Their father Sam had also trained them on what to do in case of a life-threatening emergency, in addition to how to handle firearms.

Anyways, it was a quiet evening as the siblings walked Scooby through the neighbourhood like they always do everyday.

Walking down the hiking path through the nearby woods in the park, the siblings walked for about half an hour.

A few minutes went by before they heard thunder in the distance as the wind picks up.

"Oh, we better head home now." Shaggy said as he looked up to the sky.

"Yeah." Maggie replied. "The weather report said that it's going to rain all night and there's going to be lightning."

"Right." Shaggy nodded. "Let's get going before we get caught in the rain."

"Sure thing, Norville." Maggie said as they walked down the hiking path through the woods, though Scooby was still standing at where they were standing at a few minutes ago, looking around.

"Scooby." Shaggy called out. "We're heading home now."

"Ri'm coming." Scooby nodded. However, before he proceeded to catch up to Shaggy and Maggie, there was a flash of lightning.

The flash of lightning also lightened up the nearby area, which included a sign that is placed above the path that breaks out from the main hiking path.

However, what was read on the sign spooked Scooby. It read, "CEMETERY"

Scooby's eyes widened in fear when he saw that they were, in fact, near an old cemetery in the middle of the woods, and he can also make out the old iron gates, the old iron fences and a handful of the tombstones inside the cemetery.

Then, as the wind started picking up speed, Scooby can hear howling. Even though it came from the strong winds blowing against the trees, to Scooby it certainly sounded ghostly.

"Scooby-Doo, are you coming?" Maggie called out from a distance ahead.

"Ri'm ron my way!" Scooby quickly called back, and he was about to take off to catch up with the siblings when something else happened.

As he was about to catch up with Shaggy and Maggie, there was another struck of lightning.

This time, though, the lightning struck the two graves closest to the cemetery entrance.

Nothing in the name of mankind, nature or any other living being could possibly prepare Scooby for what happened next.

As soon as the lightning struck the two tombstones, two bright green figures slowly emerged from the graves.

Scooby looked on in horror as the two bright green figures formed into that of a man and a woman, both dressed in Victorian-era dressing.

The two ghosts shared a look with each other, laughing with each other as they did.

Then, the two ghosts hovered towards Scooby.

Horrified by the sight of the two ghosts, Scooby exclaimed in fright.

"Ripe!" He exclaimed before taking off running, leaving behind his collar in the process.

A split second later, he reached back and grabbed his collar, which was still spinning in the mid-air.

"Raggy! Raggie!" Scooby called out as he ran as fast as his feet could with the two ghosts in close pursuit. "Wait for re!"

Scooby was running so fast and was so eager to catch up with Shaggy and Maggie that he did not see the two ghosts breaking the chase and hover away.

"The master wants to see us." The male ghost said to his companion.

"Then, let's go." The female ghost nodded. "As I quote the great Sherlock Holmes, 'The game's afoot!'"

Up ahead, Shaggy and Maggie were walking together down the hiking path and approaching Maple Street as they went.

"I'm serious, Norville." Maggie was saying. "You're not the type who enjoys taking risks or setting big goals for yourself. If you keep acting the way you do, I'm certain you'll never live out the lifestyle you desire and spend your days living as a nobody."

"Well, if you think I'm going to fight that jock Thomas Iverson on the bus, then you're out of your mind, Mags." Shaggy retorted.

He was about to continue when they paused and heard sprinting, with Maggie holding her hand out to stop her brother.

"Listen." Maggie stopped her brother. "You hear something?"

Shaggy listened before nodding.

"Like, sounds like someone's running." He said as he and Maggie turned to the back. "Someone like-"

Before he could finish, Scooby abruptly leaped onto Shaggy, knocking him onto the ground.

"Ooph!" Shaggy grunted as he hit the ground while Scooby stood on him shaking in fright.

"What's the matter, Scooby?" Maggie asked in concern. "Are you alright?"

"R-r-r-r..." Scooby tried to respond, but he was still shaken by what he had just witnessed.

"What?" Shaggy asked as he and Maggie tried to understand the Great Dane.

"R-r-r-rhost..." Scooby whimpered as he pointed his tail towards the back.

Shaggy and Maggie both looked towards where Scooby's tail was pointing towards. Other than the dark hiking path, the soft glow from the lanterns along the path, the setting sun and the trees, they didn't see anything else.

"There's nothing behind us." Maggie said.

"Yeah, and, like, what's so scary about something delicious?" Shaggy added.

"Rhost!" Scooby kept saying. "Rhost!"

In spite of the fact that they've known Scooby for some time, since junior high when they were still living in New York, the siblings still have some difficulty deciphering Scooby's speech, especially when the Great Dane says a word that sounds closely to another word of a completely different meaning.

Maggie checked her wristwatch before picking Scooby up.

"Alright, I think you're probably tired from our long walk, Scooby." She said as her brother got up and dusted himself.

"Yeah." Shaggy nodded. "Time to head home and hit the sack, Scoob."

The siblings then tugged Scooby and they carried on onto the sidewalk on Maple Street, heading north towards their house, which is located a few blocks away.

As they left the park, Scooby took another look towards the back, expecting the ghosts to be hidden somewhere behind the trees watching him, Shaggy and Maggie.

However, other than the swaying trees from the wind, Scooby saw nothing else.

Maybe they were right. It might've been from his getting worn out by the walk.

Even so, Scooby swore that he had caught sight of something spooky at the old cemetery, and that something is nowhere delicious as Shaggy said.

Scooby took one last look towards the back before he followed Shaggy and Maggie home.

* * *

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	3. At the library

Chapter 3: At the library

 _October 5, 2009_

The weekend was largely uneventful for Shaggy and Maggie, who did their usual stuff, such as doing house chores or working on their homework.

However, the siblings remained puzzled by what exactly had spooked Scooby in the park that Friday night.

In fact, they noted that Scooby has since refused to be taken out for a walk in the park at night, preferring to do so while the sun hasn't set yet.

Other than that, the weekend went by as usual and soon, it was back to school on Monday.

Much of the school day went by as usual for Shaggy, who once again got tripped over by Thomas on the school bus.

And during lunch time, Maggie once again gave her brother an earful for his willing to let Thomas pick on him on the school.

Of course, this particular Monday stood out in some respects compared to other Mondays.

While Shaggy doesn't have any extra-curricular activities on Mondays, that day was also the day he and his classmates in his English class were assigned a major essay to write.

The assignment in question requires the student to find academic sources related to the chosen topics for the essay as stipulated under the assignment guide, and so Shaggy decided to go to the school library after school ended to tackle the essay head on.

He sighed as he sat down on a desk in the library, not sure where to start on his research essay.

Looking up towards the library computers, he sighed again and shook his head. There's no way he'll use the school library computers to do his school research.

First off, they're old and are still using the Windows 2000 operating system, and the screens are the old-fashioned bulky computer screens that takes up a lot of space on a computer desk.

Second, the internet connection is horrible. Shaggy once tested things out by going out of the building for a jog while a webpage was still loading, and after jogging around the block and neighbourhood and returning back to school, the web page was still loading.

He sighed and shook his head as he remembered that particular day when he did just that. It was one of those days where he had stayed at school after classes to study and finish another assignment.

Anyways, he was thinking of getting started with the essay when the library door opened and in came the prettiest girl in school, who he recognized as Daphne Blake, the youngest of the Blake family.

Arching his eyebrows, Shaggy looked on as the redhead moved past the librarian, nodding at her as she went, before making her way to the desks.

Shaggy noticed the folder and pencil case the redhead was holding, and he assumed that she was here to also work on her English assignment.

After all, he and Daphne shared the same afternoon English class, though they never interacted with each other.

However, he felt that it was probably a good thing he never interacted with Daphne. In fact, part of the reason why he was glad he never interacted with Daphne was that he was frequently picked on by girls like her.

That has been the case since he started attending school, way back in the day when he was in New York. In fact, that's also how he got his nickname "Shaggy".

It was a mocking nickname given to him, based on his shaggy-styled hair, from one particular attractive classmate in Grade 4, but the nickname stuck as Shaggy found himself preferring the nickname over his given name.

Shaggy also knew from past experiences that girls like Daphne have a tendency to stick together as a group, hanging around together and not being exactly at the top of their respective classes when it comes to grades.

Even so, Shaggy noticed that Daphne seemed to be...quite different than the typical attractive girl he has encountered.

Unlike many of the attractive girls he had encountered, Shaggy never sees Daphne hanging out with girls of her type in school.

Also, Daphne was usually silent in their shared classes, but whenever she has something to say, it was always something that is worth listening to.

He noticed Daphne smiling at the librarian Mrs. Gale and the smile she received in return from the glasses-wearing librarian.

Mrs. Gale was as tough as nails, and it was difficult for anyone to get to the bottom of her skin.

In fact, it took six months of his attending Coolsville Central High School, as a freshman, before Shaggy could get the librarian to say anything else other than when his books are due.

He shrugged before returning to his business and opened his binder.

* * *

Shaggy may be a distance away from her when he arched his eyebrows, but Daphne noticed his facial expression as she walked into the school library.

She shared English and Chemistry classes with the beatnik, though she never interacted with him in either class.

Noting his reaction, she shrugged to herself, not that she minded knowing what exactly was in Shaggy's mind.

He was most likely thinking that he thought she's like those other attractive girls in school, those that prefer looks over books.

It was a stereotype she has gotten used to, not that she blamed him for making the assumption in the first place.

Even so, there was a feeling that began dwelling on her as she spotted Shaggy.

A feeling that he may be different than the other male students who would likewise make a similar assumption if they see her walking into the library at this time of the day.

Either way, unlike a handful of her friends in her small circle of friends, she is here to learn with the goal of her graduating from Coolsville Central and be accepted to a prestigious university out of town.

With the famous Blake name in town, Daphne has find it difficult for her to make a name for herself as long as she lives in Coolsville.

Her father George Robert Nadley Blake is a businessman and as the owner of Blake Enterprises, one of the largest businesses in the state and one of the city's largest employers, he is also one of the most wealthy citizens of Coolsville.

While her father does care for her, George can also be a distant father figure for Daphne.

That distant feeling came after her mother Elizabeth was diagnosed with a disease, and in spite of the best efforts of doctors, she eventually succumbed to the disease when Daphne was 13.

As the youngest of three daughters, Daphne has felt an enormous weight of expectation on her.

Her oldest sister Daisy Blake has recently completed her masters studies in dentistry and is currently interning at the Coolsville Don Messick Memorial Hospital under the supervision of one Dr. Wendy Rogers.

Her second oldest sister Delilah Blake is currently in her final year of studies at the United States Military Academy, West Point. A first class cadet, she holds the position of regimental commander within the brigade she is assigned to.

With her two older sisters achieving a lot in their lives, Daphne has felt the pressure of her father having high expectations on her to achieve as much as her sisters have before her.

Placing those thoughts aside, Daphne nodded at Mrs. Gale, the librarian, before making her way to find a vacant table.

* * *

The library was rather small with three small tables, two of which were taped off, to be replaced. As a result, Daphne ended up moving to Shaggy's table when she made her way into the library.

Shaggy was jotting down some thoughts on a blank sheet of notebook paper summarizing his thoughts when Daphne gently knocked on the table.

"Pardon me, but do you mind...?" Daphne asked him, gesturing at the empty chair across the desk as she spoke.

For some reason, she felt a bit shy and her cheeks flushed when she asked Shaggy, and she ended up trailing off mid-sentence.

Shaggy looked up, and he was quick to reply, "Oh, you can sit here if you want."

He said it without thinking. The words just flew out of his mouth, and he almost thought he sounded ridiculous when he said that and hoped that Daphne didn't notice the nervousness in his voice.

Daphne only smiled in response, and Shaggy was relieved that she didn't notice his nervousness.

* * *

Daphne thought that Shaggy sounded nervous as she placed her belongings on the desk. She glanced at him, noting that he was busy scribbling down some notes.

Even though Shaggy kept his feelings masked behind his goofy smile, Daphne can see the nervousness inside him and tell that he's resisting the urge to look up at her.

For some reason, she find his reaction cute and figured that this may be why she had the feeling that he's going to be different than the other boys she encountered at school.

She shrugged before heading over to the bookshelves to find a book to read.

* * *

A few minutes went by before Shaggy heard the door open and looked up. In came a short girl with short, auburn hair and wearing a thick pair of glasses and carrying a pile of books.

 **(Shaggy's Point of View)**

All the thoughts I had with regards to Daphne scattered when I saw Velma Dinkley walk into the library and carrying that pile of books.

Velma shares physics with me, though I never interacted the girl. In fact, by the means of her daily habits, I highly doubt Velma ever interacts with anyone in school besides the teachers and those that are in the science fair with her.

Watching her coming to the desk and putting her books down, I took a closer look at her glasses.

Man, I swear that you can burn ants with those thick lenses from her glasses.

It was then that Velma looked up and briefly saw me.

"What?" She asked.

I immediately retreated as I racked my brain for an excuse.

"Uh...I'm just checking the time on the clock on the wall behind you." I quickly said.

Velma's eyes narrowed. "You could've checked your watch."

"Ah..." I said when I looked at my watch and decided to carry on with the act by reaching over to try to adjust the minute hand of it. "I just realized it was...uh...broken."

"Huh." Velma said before she returned to what she was doing and didn't pay any attention to me afterwards, and I sighed.

That was a close-call.

 **(Third Person)**

A few moments went by before the library door opened again and in came Fred Jones, accompanied by the Thomas Iverson.

The librarian looked up and upon seeing Thomas, immediately stopped the duo.

"Mr. Iverson." The librarian addressed the jock following Fred, and the two boys stopped.

"What can I do for you?" Thomas asked uninterestedly.

"You do realize that your checked-out novel has been overdue by two weeks, right?" Mrs. Gale asked.

"Oh yes, that." Thomas scratched his head, and Shaggy, who was observing them from his desk, can see that Thomas was racking his brain for an excuse. "Well...er, I might have placed the novel in my locker or someplace...ma'am...and, er..."

"Just because you're the son of the mayor doesn't mean you're exempted from not returning books before their due date, Mr. Iverson." Mrs. Gale said sternly.

"Perhaps." Thomas said. "Though...my father does know people who does is responsible for performance evaluations in the school board, so if you give me trouble, my father is gonna give you trouble."

Shaggy shook his head when he overheard Thomas making that comment. He immediately wished that he had brought his MP3 player and earphones to school so that he can listen to music.

Also witnessing the encounter were Velma and Daphne, and like Shaggy, they both shook their heads as Thomas boasted that he doesn't have to worry about returning an overdue book to the library with his father being the mayor.

Some minutes went by before Fred and Thomas walked by the desk, and Fred proceeded to take a seat right between Shaggy and Daphne while Thomas took a seat right between Shaggy and Velma.

As he took his seat, Thomas ruffed Shaggy's hair.

"You know what time it is, Shaggy?" Thomas asked.

Not looking up from his writing, Shaggy asked, "What time is it?"

"Time for you to get a haircut!" Thomas said before laughing at the pun. "Get it?"

Daphne and Velma both frowned at Thomas' remark and they shared a look at Fred, who shrugged at them.

"More like its time for you to get a new watch." Shaggy said calmly. "Or better yet, time for the people of Coolsville to lighten up and see through your father's lies."

At the remark, the girls both arched their eyebrows and Thomas stopped laughing.

"Say what?" He asked.

"You heard me." Shaggy said as he continued writing.

Without warning, Thomas got up from his seat and grabbed Shaggy and slammed him onto the nearby column, causing the others to gasp.

"Don't you ever spread any gossip or filth about my father." He said to Shaggy, holding him by the collar as he spoke. "Because if you continue to do so, my father's got connections that can spell trouble for your family."

At that moment, Fred quickly rushed over and tugged his shoulder.

"Let him go, Tom." He quickly said.

There was a pause but Thomas refused to let Shaggy go. It was then that Mrs. Gale walked over.

"Hey!" She said as she walked over. "Mr. Iverson! This is a library! Not a fighting club or wrestling ring!"

"So?" Thomas asked. "What are you going to do about it?"

"You do realize that Vice Principal Grimes doesn't give a rats rear end on the school board, eh?" Mrs. Gale asked.

She was referring to the vice principal in charge of discipline, and Grimes has a reputation of being no-nonsense and is willing to up his nose at Crystal Cove County Public Schools.

At Grimes' name, Thomas paused before turning to Shaggy and finally let him go.

With two fingers, he pointed them at his two eyes, then at Shaggy's eyes, making it clear that he will be keeping an eye on him.

Thomas then made his way to the back of the library without another word, and Shaggy returned to his seat, rubbing his neck as he did so.

"Are you alright, Norville?" Mrs. Gale asked.

"Other than feeling like I've gotten a sore throat, Mrs. Gale, I believe I'm fine." Shaggy replied.

"I'm reporting this to Vice Princiapl Grimes." Mrs. Gale said as she headed for the door. "Mr. Iverson there thinks that just because he's the son of Mayor Iverson, he can have things his way and this can't go unpunished for long. I'll be back shortly."

The others all nodded as the librarian left the library before returning to what they were doing.

As they did so, Daphne and Velma briefly looked at Shaggy, who was furiously scribbling down his thoughts on a sheet of notebook paper.

The redhead noticed that rather than crumpling the paper up when he wrote a point that he realized doesn't fit what he was thinking, Shaggy simply wrote a large "X" right beside the point and carried on scribbling down notes as if he never made the mistake before.

She nodded thoughtfully, mostly to herself, before she returned to do what she was doing.

* * *

Even though Shaggy had his eyes on his paper the whole time, he can felt her eyes were on him.

He shrugged to himself as he continued to scribble down notes on the sheet of paper.

There were a few points that he thought doesn't reflect what exactly he was thinking about, and he simply placed a large "X" beside them instead of crossing them out, in case he started to have second thoughts on them.

He knew some people simply crumbled up the paper whenever they made a mistake and tossed it into the bin.

That sort of thing was never his style. His strong environmental consciousness would never allow him to do just that, especially whenever he thinks of the number of trees being cut down in order to make paper everyday.

* * *

 **Please read and review!**


	4. An encounter and the discovery

**Author's Note: After some thoughts, I'm considering utilizing Fred and Velma's parents from SDMI rather than the mainstream parents for this series.**

 **That being said, Fred's mother is Peggy Jones from _Pirates Ahoy!_ and Fred Jones, Sr., is his biological father.**

 **Anyways, for those of you that know _The Funky Phantom_ , the character of Mayor Henry Iverson will be utilized both in this series and in _Coolsville Central_ , where he's going to be depicted as being at odds with Mystery Inc. as mayor of Coolsville.**

 **Also, another HB-related character that is utilized in my stories is Chief of Police Lou Strickland from _Top Cat: The Movie_ , where as you all will note in my very first story _Coolsville: Year One_ , he's portrayed in a completely different way than he was in the movie in question.**

 **Special thanks to my friend Ellis97 for introducing those characters to me.**

* * *

Chapter 4: An encounter and the discovery

 **(Shaggy's Point of View)**

I looked on as Mrs. Gales left the library and there was no one at the front desk to greet the students and handle issues such as overdue fines and checked out books.

From what I've heard, recent school board budget cutbacks has resulted in the scaling back in the staffing at the school library.

I honestly have no clue what's the point of those budget cuts, or more like, why are those cutbacks necessary if the school board is operating at a budget surplus lately?

One thing I do believe is that the poor state of Crystal Cove County Public Schools can be traced back to the era when this former Hollywood star-turned politician who was two-time Governor of California was elected president in 1980.

Once that bloke became president, he presided over an era of financial deregulation, commencement of the fraudulent War on Drugs, increased U.S. military involvement in the Middle East and Latin America, tax cuts with his "trickle-down economics" and the deficits that resulted from those irresponsible financial policies.

I'm no accountant, nor is money my strong suit, but I do know that trickle-down economics is nothing more than a financial fraud that robbed hard-working middle-class workers out of their hard-earned money, pensions and money that could've been used to continue to invest in health care, education, social services and infrastructure.

Anyways, I've heard from plenty of people that Crystal Cove County Public Schools used to be among the best school boards in the state up into the 1980s when those budget cuts that followed the financial slowdown took a toll on service quality.

The result: Crystal Cove County Public Schools is now among the school boards on the low end of the ranking spectrum in the state, and the cuts in basic operations in the school board in the 1990s has resulted in dwindling in service quality, in addition to urgent repairs becoming a regular feature.

And that certainly explains the poor state of our school lockers, which were installed when the school had its last major renovation in the 1960s.

Anyways, with Mrs. Gales gone, it was just me, Fred, Velma and Daphne at the table as we all sat to work on our English assignments.

There was some silence that is thick enough that I'm certain that you can cut it with a knife.

An hour or so had went by since Mrs. Gales left.

By that point, I felt that I had wrote down enough ideas to form the basis of my English essay, and I decided to fiddle with my pencil as I took a break and stretched on my chair.

As I did so, I noticed Daphne had picked up a James Patterson novel, titled _2nd Chance_ , and started reading the book. Not that I blame her for procrastinating on getting a heads start on the English essay.

Looking around, I saw Velma furiously typing away on her laptop and Fred placing his hands on his cheeks. He certainly looked bored.

It was then that I saw Fred noticing the novel Daphne was reading, and he began to open his mouth.

"Ah, I know who that mass shooter was." Fred said to Daphne. "It was an-"

"Don't spoil the ending, man." I quickly spoke before the blonde could finish.

I'm not much of a reader when it comes to long mystery novels, but if there's one thing I do know, it's that people tend to hate it when the ending of a mystery story gets spoiled.

Daphne looked up from the book she was reading, and for a brief second, I thought that she smiled at me.

I then turned and saw Fred awkwardly returning to his usual stupor, and there was some silence afterwards.

Another minute went by before I felt someone ruffling my hair, and as I looked up, I saw that jock Iverson walking by me.

"I gotta head to my locker to grab something, Jones." He said to Fred. "I'll be back."

Fred nodded but didn't say a word, and then Iverson ruffled my hair again before making his way towards the exit doors.

What in the world is taking Mrs. Gales so long to find Vice Principal Grimes? She should be back by now.

I shrugged at the thought and decided to get up from my seat and pace around to stretch my legs. Sitting on a chair all day without standing up and next thing you know, I'll be having grass growing out from my rear.

Fred must've noticed something on my face, because he called me out.

"Hey." He said, looking towards me as he spoke, and I paused and turned, facing him.

"What can I do for you, man?" I asked.

"I just wanna say I'm sorry about what Tom just did, as well as what he always do to you on the bus." Fred said. "I should've done something about it-"

"Easier for you to say that when you always stood by and did nothing while your friend continues to pick on him." Daphne scoffed at Fred as she gestured towards me.

"Yeah, you could've done something to keep your friend from getting into trouble." Velma added as she and Daph took my side.

"Well, guys, Tom's not really my friend." Fred raised his arms in an attempt to calm the girls down, not that I blame him. "We do play together on the school football team and have a great partnership."

"That, we've noticed." Velma huffed. "Him being the quarterback and you being the team captain."

As Fred and the girls continued with their back-and-forth arguing, I sighed. Man, of all the days for me to leave my MP3 at home to be charged up.

Not that I should leave my electronics charging at home, though with Scooby staying at home most of the time everyday, he knows when to unplug my MP3 player when its battery is charged up.

 **(Third Person)**

With Fred and the girls arguing with each other back and forth, Shaggy glanced at his watch, noted the time and then decided to go grab his stuff on the desk.

It was Daphne who noticed Shaggy walking to the desk and grabbing his stuff.

"You leaving, Shag?" She asked.

"Yeah. It's getting late and I just remembered that I was supposed to meet up with my sister Mags a couple minutes ago." Shaggy nodded.

"Your sister?" Daphne raised an eyebrow.

"She's taking part in the student council's meeting." Shaggy explained.

"I see." Daphne nodded understandingly as Shaggy took his leave. "Anyways, I'll see you in English and Chemistry."

"Yeah, see you." Shaggy waved a hand as he made his way out of the library.

The moment Shaggy stepped out of the library, he took a deep breath, sighed, and then carried on down the hallway, whistling Johnny Cash's _Ring of Fire_ as he went.

* * *

In the library, the atmosphere remained tense even as Fred and the girls calmed down and resumed doing what they were doing.

Fred looked on as Daphne continued to scribble down notes on her notebook while Velma continued to type away on her laptop.

The scene was certainly tense, and the silence, minus the typing and the movement of the pencil and erasers, was deafening and he could've sworn he could cut the tension with a knife.

As he read a sports magazine, he could've sworn that he can feel Daphne and Velma's eyes piercing at him.

Some minutes went by before he finally sighed, put down the magazine and raised his hands.

"Look, you girls don't honestly think it's my fault that Tom's out of control like he is, right?" He asked as he looked at the girls.

"More like you should've done something to keep that jock in line, Jones." Velma huffed.

"Well, I could." Fred shrugged. "However, you honestly think that it's worth ruining my father's friendship with the mayor in order to keep Tom in line?"

"In that case, why is your father associating himself with someone like Mayor Iverson?" Daphne frowned.

"Let's just say that Dad and Mayor Iverson graduated from law school together and they both served with the Judge Advocates Division together." Fred offered.

"JAD, huh?" Daphne asked. "Now why is it that-"

Before she could continue, their conversation was interrupted when they began noticing the lights flickering on and off in the library.

Looking around, the trio arched their eyebrows.

"Hold the phone." Fred said as he looked at the ceiling lights. "What's with the lights?"

"Something with the power, I suppose." Daphne surmised as the lights continued to flicker on and off.

Then, the trio noticed that the lights were diminishing in brightness with each flickering, and then they began hearing some ghostly sounds.

"What was that?" Daphne asked as she looked around nervously.

"Probably just the wind." Fred offered.

"In this part of the school?" Velma asked. "Unless the windows are opened, which they aren't, there's no way it could get windy in here."

While Velma was making the remark, the trio began to feel the temperature dropping in the library.

"Funny..." Daphne remarked as she began rubbing her upper arms. "The air conditioning isn't working, yet it's starting to get freezing in here."

At the sight of Fred exhaling and breathing out fog, Velma's eyes narrowed.

"This certainly isn't possible." She said. "Not without a logical explanation."

Their attention was soon turned towards the doorways when they heard screaming from outside the library, most likely from the nearby hallways.

"ZOINKS!" The voice screamed, and the trio could hear someone racing down the nearby hallway.

"Jinkies." Velma said as the trio shared looks with each other. "What was that?"

"I don't know, but-" Fred was about to continue when all in a sudden, Shaggy burst right into the library.

His face was pale, and he looked like he had the run of his life.

"What happened, Shaggy?" Daphne asked. "And what's the matter? You looked like you've seen a ghost."

Shaggy stuttered as he shook uncontrollably.

"G-g-g-" He shuttered.

"What's he saying?" Velma asked.

"G-g-g-ghost...k-k-k-killing..." Shaggy shuttered as he pointed towards the library doors.

"Ghost-killing?" Fred arched his eyebrows.

"N-no!" Shaggy shook his head as he pointed towards the library door, his eyes widening in fear. "G-g-ghosts...are gonna...kill us...if we don't...get outta...here..."

"Kill us?" Velma asked skeptically.

"What do you mean, Shag?" Daphne asked.

"L-l-look..." Shaggy shuttered as he continued to point towards the library door.

Fred and the girls turned towards where Shaggy was pointing at and at that very instant, the colour on their faces drained away.

On the other side of where they were standing at in the library were two light green floating figures, both of whom were dressed in Victorian-era dressing.

"Jinkies..." Velma exclaimed in horror as she covered her mouth in shock. "I...don't believe...it..."

"Jeepers...!" Daphne covered her mouth in horror, momentarily at a loss of words.

It was then that the two ghosts floated forward menacingly towards the four students and growled at them with their arms reaching forward.

"Z-z-z-zoinks!" Shaggy swallowed.

"Run!" Fred shouted, and almost immediately, the four students took off running and the two ghosts gave chase.

Several minutes went by as the two ghosts chased the four students around the school library, during which the former used their supernatural powers to send books and other nearby objects flying, as if a tornado was in the midst of striking the school library.

Eventually, the four students managed to make it out of the library with the two ghosts in close pursuit, though not before the entire library looked like it has been demolished by a wrecking ball.

Another several minutes went by before the scene shifts to a deserted hallway, during which the two ghosts flew by, only to find that the four students were nowhere to be seen.

Looking around, the two ghosts then turned towards each other.

"Where did they went?" The male ghost asked.

"Now that's funny." The female ghost replied after looking around before shrugging and added, "Oh well. Not that it's our concern, but I digress, we should return to the master."

"Right." The male ghost nodded before reaching an arm out and added, "After you, dear."

Once the two ghosts had flown out of view, the scene then moves to a nearby closed door, though it is clear that the room behind it, a janitor's storage room, is occupied by none other than Shaggy, Fred, Velma and Daphne.

Fred and Daphne waited for a few moments before bravely cracking open the door and peeked out, then after a while, they turned back to their companions.

"The coast is clear, gang." Fred said.

"You sure?" Velma asked.

"Yes, we're sure." Daphne nodded as she gently pushed the door open.

Seeing that the ghosts were nowhere in sight, Fred and the girls sighed in relief.

"Well, I don't know about you girls, but I think we better get out of here before we get into trouble for causing damage to the library." Fred said as they made their way out of the storage room.

"And I'm certain Dad's not going to be in a mood in paying for the damages that is blamed on me and you guys." Daphne said.

"Uh...guys...?" Shaggy, who was still in the room, called out.

"No one's gonna believe us if we tell them about those two...things...that attacked us in the library." Velma said as she gestured towards where the two ghosts were last seen at.

"Guys...?" Shaggy repeated.

"If things come down to that and we get blamed, then it's going to be your fault, Jones." Daphne scoffed.

"My fault?" Fred asked. "I wasn't the one who attracted those ghosts into the library in the first place, and-"

"Guys!" Shaggy finally shouted, attracting the attention of the others.

"What is it, Shag?" Velma asked as they finally turned towards him, though they immediately noticed that his face remained pale.

"What's the matter?" Daphne asked.

"Like...I think we've got more things...to worry about..." Shaggy trailed off.

"What do you mean?" Fred asked.

Shaggy swallowed as he gestured towards the inside of the storage room before adding, "See for yourselves."

At that, Fred and the girls walked back into the storage room and followed Shaggy's arm, though nothing in the creation of mankind could prepare them for what Shaggy had just saw that resulted in his face turning pale.

"Jinkies..." Velma's eyes widened at the sight.

"Jeepers..." Daphne said as the colour started draining from her face.

"Oh no..." Fred said in horror. "Tom!"

Sure enough, laying in front of the four was Thomas Iverson, who laid on the floor.

There was blood pouring out from his mouth and a wide open wound in his chest, and the jock's eyes were widened as if he had witnessed something horrifying just prior to meeting his end.

Velma crouched down to take a close look at his body, moving first to check his wrist for a pulse.

When no pulse comes into view, she shook her head and turned towards the others.

"He's dead." Velma said.

* * *

 **Please read and review!**


	5. The police response

Chapter 5: The police response

It didn't take long for the parking lot of Coolsville Central High School to become crowded with police cruisers as police responded to the 911 call from the school.

Shaggy sighed as he sat on the front stairs leading to the main entrance doors and looked around.

There were plenty of students nearby watching the whole drama unfold on the parking lot, and most of their eyes were on first responders making their way into the school building with a stretcher.

Shaggy knew that the paramedics were getting into the building in order to retrieve Thomas Iverson's body, and the thought of that name reminded him of the last time he saw the jock alive.

At that time, Iverson was on his way out of the library and ruffed his hair as he went.

Shaggy was then distracted from his thoughts when he felt a pair of familiar brown eyes looking up at him, and he looked down and nodded.

"Hey old buddy." He said as he proceeded to rub Scooby in the head.

"Raggy." Scooby said as they watched both Fred and Velma getting interviewed by a police officer each.

In spite of having had provided statements to the investigators, the four were ordered to stay as the investigation into Thomas Iverson's death gears up.

"You know, this is ridiculous, Scoob." Shaggy said. "It's been half an hour since the police responded to our 911 call, and we've already given our statements, yet they still demand that we stay put."

"Ri know." Scooby nodded in agreement. "Ri hope re captain shows up soon."

It was then that Maggie walked to them.

"Hey Norville." She said as she joined them.

"Mags." Shaggy nodded. "Surprising, isn't it?"

"I know." Maggie nodded as she sat beside her brother. "Thomas getting killed that way...it's hard to believe."

"Coming from someone who's been trying to get me to stand up to him." Shaggy chuckled.

"He may be a jerk to you, but even that jock didn't deserve to..." Maggie trailed off, in time for them to see the paramedics carry Thomas Iverson's body out of the school building on a stretcher. "...end up like that."

"Or getting cut up in the morgue for the matter." Shaggy added.

It was then that they felt a presence behind them and turned, where they find Daphne walking down the stairs and heading towards them.

"Are you okay, Shaggy?" Daphne asked as she joined them. "That was quite a scare we had, I have to say."

"Well...it was unexpected, but nothing we couldn't handle." Shaggy shrugged. "And besides, Pops have seen things worst than this."

"'Pops'?" Daphne arched her eyebrows.

"Our father." Shaggy said as he gestured at himself and Maggie. "He's a police captain and should be here any minute."

Daphne nodded understandingly, and it was then that Shaggy noticed that she was staring at Scooby.

"Oh, and by the way, this is my family dog Scooby Doo." Shaggy said as he gestured towards Scooby.

"I see. Nice name." Daphne smiled as she crouched down to rub Scooby's head, which was something he began to take a liking. "I'd bet that Scooby must've been a cute puppy. Made me wished sometimes that Dad will buy me one of those cute pups."

"Raw..." Scooby said as he let Daphne rub his head, and Daphne raised an eyebrow.

"He talks?" She asked.

"Yeah." Shaggy nodded and shrugged. "Don't ask me how."

Daphne then nodded thoughtfully just as Maggie cleared her throat, and Shaggy almost jumped.

"Oh, and how could I forget my sister Maggie?" He said as he gestured towards Maggie.

"You guys are..." Daphne began when she noticed that Shaggy and Maggie looked almost identical, particularly with their thin frame faces.

"We're twins." Maggie finished as she reached her hand out. "Though technically, Norville's the younger sibling, as he was born five minutes after I was, according to Mom."

"I see." Daphne nodded as she took Maggie's offered hand and shook it. "My name is Daphne, and I'm in Shag's English and Chemistry classes."

"Strange." Maggie remarked, and Daphne thought she could hear a suspicious tone in her voice. "Norville never mentioned a 'Daphne' before whenever we're at home."

"That's because Daph and I only got acquainted just now." Shaggy said as he shared a look with Daphne. "We...uh...didn't interact with each other much in class."

"Oh, okay." Maggie relaxed as Daphne nodded. "That explains a lot."

There was an awkward silence between the four before Daphne spoke up.

"Anyways, why did those police officers told us to stay put, Shag?" She asked. "We've provided our statements and accounts on what had happened, yet they told us to stay put."

"Like, you can search me." Shaggy shrugged as he watched Fred folding his arms while Velma seemed to have made a facepalm as she answered a question from a police officer. "All I know, though, is that the officers seemed interested in what Fred and Velma has to say."

"Wait, so what happened?" Maggie asked.

"Oh, you're not going to believe us if we told you." Daphne said.

"Try me." Maggie deadpanned.

The next few minutes were spent as Shaggy and Daphne provided accounts on what they've witnessed, particularly the encounter with the two ghosts, and how they ended up discovering Thomas Iverson's body while hiding from them.

At the mentioning of the ghosts, Scooby's ears perked up.

"Rhat's what Ri saw at re cemetery rast Friday!" Scooby quickly said.

"Wait, you mean the two ghosts we saw, Scoob?" Shaggy asked as he and Daphne turned to him.

"Reah." Scooby nodded.

Shaggy turned to Maggie.

"Like, that explains why Scooby was repeating 'roast' all over last Friday night when we were out on our walk, Mags." He said.

"I suppose so, but don't you guys think that those 'ghosts' you saw were tricks?" Maggie asked.

"If that was the case, how can you explain the sudden temperature drop and flashing lights in the library?" Daphne asked.

"Well, I-" Maggie was about to continue when their attention was diverted to the two cars pulling into the school parking lot.

Turning to look, the four looked on as two cars stopped and its occupants got off.

"Looks like Major Crimes is here to take over this investigation, considering the identity of the victim." Maggie remarked as she and Shaggy saw their father getting off the first car.

The moment Sam got off the car, he saw Shaggy, Scooby, Maggie and Daphne and walked towards them.

"Norville!" He called out. "Margaret!"

"Margaret?" Daphne asked as she turned to Maggie.

"That's my real name." Maggie said.

"Oh." Daphne nodded thoughtfully as Sam joined them.

Turning to look, the redhead got a good look of the police captain that had joined them.

He reminded her of her father in a number of ways. Short light brown hair that is turning grey and never touched the top of his ears, Daphne surmised that it was the classic example of someone who had served in the armed forces, just like her father George.

"Are you both all right?" Sam asked in concern as he turned to Shaggy and Maggie.

"I'm fine, Dad." Maggie quickly said. "But Norville clearly isn't, especially with what he just saw."

"First, it was a couple of spooky ghosts, then the body of someone who was gruesomely killed." Shaggy added.

"Ghosts?" Sam frowned.

"It wasn't just him that saw the two ghosts and the body, Captain Rogers." Daphne quickly said, and the police captain turned to her, and then she gestured at herself, Fred and Velma as she continued, "I did, and so did Fred and Velma over there."

Looking towards Fred and Velma, Sam narrowed his eyes before he said, "Excuse me."

He then proceeded to march over to Fred and Velma, who continued to be peppered with questions from the officers.

One of the officers was asking a question when he saw Sam walking towards him, and he immediately closed his mouth.

"Ah, Captain Rogers!" The officer reported as the other three turned to Sam.

"Officer Douglas." Sam said. "What have you gentlemen got so far?"

"Well, not much, sir." Douglas replied. "Mr. Jones and Miss Dinkley here have been spending the past 30 minutes trying to convince us that a ghost was to blame for Mr. Iverson's untimely demise."

"We didn't say that!" Velma exclaimed as she turned to Sam. "We only told you two officers that we saw the two ghosts before encountering Mr. Iverson's body."

"Save the ghost stories for later." Sam said bluntly before nodding at Fred and Velma and added, "Right now, the two of you come with me."

"What about us, Cap?" The second officer asked.

Seeing the forensics van pulling up into the school parking lot, Sam nodded at it.

"You two lead forensics to the crime scene." He ordered. "And quick."

"Right then, sir." Douglas nodded before he and his partner get down to work.

Sam then turned to Fred and Velma and nodded. "Come with me."

Fred and Velma shared looks with each other, shrugged, and then followed the police captain to Shaggy, Scooby, Maggie and Daphne.

As the trio joined up with the four, Sam turned and waved a hand at a couple of investigators that had just exited the school building.

The kids looked on as the two men joined them and Sam, with the two men walking towards the police captain.

"Anything at the crime scene, gentlemen?" He asked.

"Well, first thing we noted before the coroner took away the body was that there wasn't a pool of blood at where it was at, Cap." The first investigator replied.

"Which means we're looking at the killer that dragged the victim's body away from the actual crime scene." Sam nodded and surmised.

"That's what we're thinking, sir." The second investigator agreed.

"Any luck finding the murder weapon?" Sam then asked.

"Unfortunately, no sir." The first investigator shook his head. "In fact, we have yet to figure out where the actual crime scene is at."

"This is just great." Sam grumbled. "In the meantime, given the fact that our victim is the mayor's son, it's only a matter of time before His frickin' Honour shows up and spoils the investigation, so you gentlemen need to-"

The captain didn't have time to finish his sentence, as he was cut off by the screeching of a car arriving at the parking lot, and as they all turned towards the source of the sound, they saw onlookers ducking away from the car in the last second.

The car in question had American flags on the front corners, and at the arrival of the car, Sam narrowed his eyes.

"This is just f**king great." The second investigator remarked as the car stopped and two men stepped out.

The first man that stepped out of the car was Chief of Police Rupert Gosnell, who Sam didn't have a good working relationship to begin with.

When Sam was transferred from New York as a lieutenant, Gosnell was the commander in charge of the department's Internal Affairs and consistently butt heads with Sam over his efforts to clean up the department.

The biggest strain that led to Sam's disdain towards Gosnell happened a few months after he was transferred from New York, when he was assigned to lead the investigation into a string of murders.

As Sam and his team dug deeper into the case, they uncover a massive protection racket, together with a conspiracy that has ties into City Hall and police headquarters itself, where several officials connected to the racket having already been under federal investigation for fraud, embezzlement and racketeering.

It was Internal Affairs that has consistently been a thorn to Sam's side, as Gosnell was among those in the department that preferred the old ways of quiet bribery, something which collides with Sam's ethics and disciplined, professional upbringing, especially during his time in the Marine Corps.

As a matter a fact, Sam has suspected that Gosnell had a hand in covering up Coolsville Central's involvement in the racket, though he was never able to find evidence tying Gosnell to it.

Anyways, the exposure of the racket ring descended into a massive political windstorm at City Hall and the resulting fallout had also led to an emergency recall election two years back, an election that saw the then-mayor getting unseated by two-term city councilman Henry Iverson.

Following his election in 2007, Iverson moved to appoint Gosnell as chief of police, and one of Gosnell's first acts as chief was to approve of Sam's promotion to captain, in addition to placing him in charge of the department's Major Crimes Division.

However, that didn't exactly help matters in repairing their working relationship, mainly because Sam viewed his promotion to captain as nothing other than window dressing, designed to tell citizens that the mayor is tough on cleaning up the city while Iverson was also complicint in the appointment of the police chief that preceded Gosnell.

And then, of course, the second man that stepped out of the car was Mayor Henry Iverson, who Sam liked even less than Gosnell.

Iverson fits the profile of a typical politician. Always lying and makes promises he couldn't keep, in addition to being a master of window-dressing.

Sam remembered meeting then-Councilman Iverson during an investigation in a fraud case, a case that saw him interviewing Iverson at City Hall, and he remembered hating the then-councilman at first sight.

He found Iverson to be ignorant, not to mention that the mayor always find ways to spin a story to fit his agenda.

Iverson was also known for his adversarial relationship with the press, consistently bickered with the major news outlets and has always issued prepared statements that rarely answered the questions fielded by journalists.

Sam groaned internally as Iverson and Gosnell made their way towards him.

"Captain Rogers!" Gosnell boomed as they approached him.

"I came as soon as I heard the news." Iverson said before turning to the police captain and asked, "Who did this to my dear boy?"

"Right now, we're at the early stages of the investigation, your Honor." Sam quickly said. "We know that Thomas was stabbed to death inside the school building."

"Of course." Iverson said sarcastically. "I want to know who did this."

"Mr. Mayor, calm down and let us continue with our job." Sam said calmly. "Right now, we still have yet to locate the murder weapon, which the killer managed to dispose neatly."

Iverson was about to say something when Gosnell stopped him and said, "Let me handle this, Mr. Mayor."

The mayor nodded, and after throwing a glare towards Sam and the investigators, he turned and made his way to the coroner's van.

The police chief then sighed before turning to Sam and the investigators and asked, "What have we got so far, gentlemen?"

"Not much, chief." The first investigator said before gesturing to the gang as he continued, "We do know for a fact that the victim wasn't killed in the janitor's supply room, which is where these kids found it."

"So in other words, you still haven't find the actual crime scene?" Gosnell asked as he looked at Sam, clearly not impressed.

"We're working on it, sir." Sam said calmly. "Unfortunately, there haven't been any other witnesses who had came forward with any information regarding the murder."

"Other then the kids here that discovered the victim, huh?" Gosnell asked as he gestured at the gang.

"That's right, sir." Sam nodded. He was about to continue when he saw Iverson walking towards them after having a word with the coroners.

Shaggy stood up as Iverson joined the adults and like his father, he almost immediately felt a instant wave of dislike towards the mayor.

"That guy from the coroner's officer told me that they saw a blood-stained footprint in the storage room when they retrieved the body." Iverson said.

At that remark, the gang all joined Shaggy in standing up and looked at each other.

It was also then that Maggie looked down at her brother's shoe and muttered, "Uh oh."

"What is it, Margaret?" Sam asked when the adults heard her made the remark.

However, the moment he and the other adults turned towards the kids, they all noticed a slight hint of bloodstain on Shaggy's shoe.

"Is that my son's blood on your shoe?" Iverson demanded as he walked towards Shaggy.

"Could be, but that's because Shag may have accidentally stepped on a pool of blood when we made the discovery, Mayor Iverson." Fred quickly said before Shaggy could open his mouth.

Iverson turned to Fred and then, at recognition of him, said, "Frederick. Wasn't expecting to see you here at this time of the day."

"Well, Mayor Iverson, I was at the library to do some studying, which was also when I saw Tom." Fred said.

"When was that, Mr. Jones?" Gosnell asked.

"Around three hours ago." Fred said before gesturing to the others and added, "Daphne, Velma and Shag here were with me at the library."

"And that was the last time you've seen Thomas?" Iverson asked.

"Yes." Fred nodded. "He told us that he was heading to his locker to grab something, and that was that. The next time we all see him, he was dead in that storage room."

"And what exactly brought you kids to the storage room?" Gosnell folded his arms.

At the remark, the gang all shared looks with each other in concern.

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	6. Enter the businessman

Chapter 6: Enter the businessman

"So you're telling us that ghosts were responsible for my boy's murder?" Iverson asked, clearly not impressed by the gang's story after they reluctantly explained everything, before turning to Fred and added, "Really, Frederick. I expected better from you!"

"Well, you know that Fred Sr. has always been laid back when it comes to raising children, Henry." Gosnell interjected. "So do you expect Junior to be like his father when it comes to not making up ridiculous stories?"

"Good point." Iverson huffed. "But right now, considering the fact that you kids were the last to see my boy alive and were the ones that found him in that dreadful state, that makes you all prime suspects, especially with the ridiculous ghost story you just told us."

"But it's what exactly happened, Mayor Iverson!" Daphne protested. "And we were nowhere near-"

"Enough with the excuses!" Iverson cut in. "You kids are responsible for my boy's death, period! You all should be arrested!"

"On what charges though, Henry?" Gosnell asked. "Don't forget, Rogers' dimwitted men haven't found the murder weapon and we don't have any solid evidence that points the finger at them."

"Well, isn't the fact that they were the last ones to have seen my boy alive and the ones to have discovered his body suspicious enough for these brats to be charged?" Iverson sneered.

"Like I said, without the murder weapon, Henry, there's no way the charges are going to stick." Gosnell folded his arms as he glared at Sam and the investigators.

Sam simply rolled his eyes at the remark. As usual, whenever something goes wrong during the course of a high-profile investigation, he always ends up getting blamed, though the police captain has certainly gotten used to it.

Before the mayor could say anything, suddenly another car pulled up into the school's parking lot and out came a red-haired man dressed in a sharp suit, who immediately made his way to the group.

Daphne stiffened up the moment the car in question pulled into the school parking lot, recognizing her father George Blake as he got off the car and walked towards them.

George Robert Nedley Blake certainly didn't looked pleased as he made his way to the group. His tough-looking appearances, combined with the grey hair chasing away his naturally red hair, stood as a reminder of the years gone by.

Like Sam, it is easy to notice the very short hair style on George, which originated from his own past military service.

Eying the police chief and the mayor, George narrowed his eyes as he stopped in front of them.

"Mayor Iverson, Mr. Gosnell." He finally said as he stared at the two men.

"Mr. Blake." The mayor nodded. "How are you?"

"I will certainly feel better if someone explains why my daughter Daphne is being questioned by police repeatedly?" George growled almost immediately, causing the mayor to wince. "I understand that some incident occurred here in my daughters school."

Even though Iverson's wincing was brief, Shaggy and Maggie's observant eyes noticed the wince before turning to their father.

"There has been an incident, Mr. Blake." Gosnell nodded. "Though it's no ordinary incident. Someone was murdered here, and the victim happened to be the mayor's son."

"Oh, is that right?" George arched his eyebrows as he turned towards Iverson. "My condolences, Mayor Iverson."

"Anyways, these kids here, your daughter included, were the last to see the victim alive and were also the ones to have discovered his remains in the school." Gosnell continued as he gestured towards the kids.

"Huh." George remarked as he turned towards the kids, and almost immediately, his eyes settled onto Fred, who was standing next to Daphne.

"And thanks to Captain Rogers' dimwitted men here standing around and doing nothing, we don't have the evidence that can tell us who exactly committed the deed." Gosnell added.

 _That's because we were only getting started in the investigation when you two showed up_. Sam thought to himself at the remark. _If you two just stand by, my men wouldn't certainly be standing around and be doing nothing._

"And you're looking at my daughter and these kids as your primary suspects, huh?" George asked as he turned towards Gosnell and Iverson, clearly not impressed.

"Well, they were the ones to last see my Thomas alive and the ones who discovered his remains." Iverson quickly said. "Only explanation is that they killed him, Mr. Blake."

"Sounds like you're forgetting something, Mayor Iverson." George snorted as he leaned closer to the mayor, stepping almost in Iverson's personal space. "You really think my daughter, who's a Blake, would be capable of doing such a thing?!"

With George stepping too close to him, Iverson swallowed as he became nervous.

Observing the interaction between the mayor and George, the gang all shared looks with each other.

Apparently, the rumours are true. George Blake is the toughest man in Coolsville, and anyone who dares to cross him suffers from fates or consequences that are best left unknown.

Finding George's glare to be unbearable, the mayor swallowed.

"Uh...well, Mr. Blake, sir...surely you understand that no one's above the law, right?" Iverson asked.

Sam scoffed at the remark and shook his head. _What a hypocrite_.

"Of course I am well aware of that, Mayor Iverson." George growled before lowering his voice and added, "Unless you are willing to kiss your political career goodbye, you can consider Blake Enterprises to be out."

Iverson's face fell at the remark. After all, Blake Enterprises is the largest employer in the whole of Crystal Cove County, Coolsville included, and no local politician running for office has ever been successful in their election campaign without donations or contributions from Blake Enterprises.

Eying the group of kids, the mayor turned to George and then sighed.

"Well, with all due respect, Mr. Blake, until we can gather more evidence in this investigation and see if it points the finger to someone else, I'm afraid your daughter, my son and their friends are our number one suspects in the case." Sam interjected in an effort to defuse the awkward silence.

It was at that remark that George broke the staring match with Iverson and then turned to Sam, and for a while, neither of them said a word.

Finally, the businessman nodded firmly at Sam. However, before he could say something, Gosnell cut in.

"While you do have a point, Captain Rogers, your relation to one of our suspects disqualifies you from leading the investigation." The police chief said.

"You're not serious, are you?" Sam asked as he turned to the police chief.

"I am." Gosnell glared. "I cannot let your relationship with your son to compromise the investigation in any way, so as of this moment, Rogers, I am ordering Major Crimes to hand the investigations back to the homicide table of City East."

Sam shared a look with the two investigators, who both frowned.

"And speaking of which, we cannot let your relation to Captain Rogers to ruin the investigation, Mr. Rogers, so until we know what exactly had happened, I'm afraid our only option is to put you kids under house arrest." Gosnell continued as he turned to the kids, looking directly at Shaggy as he spoke.

"You can't be serious, Rupert?!" Iverson suddenly exclaimed.

"Sorry, Henry, but we don't have anything solid to actually tie our suspects to the murder." Gosnell sighed. "And if it weren't for Mr. Blake butting in, I would've considered having these kids placed in our custody throughout the course of the investigation."

"Well, consider yourself lucky that I was in a pleasant mood earlier today before I received the phone call, Mr. Gosnell." George growled. "Because if I wasn't, you will be dealing with a massive lawsuit that will certainly be trouble for your cash-strapped department."

"I'm sure you wouldn't have the balls to do just that, Mr. Blake." Gosnell retorted. "Because from what I know, Blake Enterprises is-"

"Yes, I know." George snapped as he crossed his arms. "Tell that to anyone who works _with_ me at _my_ company."

Before he was interrupted, Gosnell was referring to the fact that Blake Enterprises was among the major companies hit hard by the financial crash the year before and in particular, the fact that the company has been losing steam on the stock market in recent days.

However, in spite of the loss in profits, George refused to lay off a single employee and instead ordered a series of cutbacks.

First thing he did was taking a salary cut, which was also implemented on the higher levels of management in Blake Enterprises.

Second thing he ordered was employees taking public transit, carpool or bike to work, himself and the upper management included.

And finally, he made sure that upper management in his company don't receive bonuses that could otherwise be used to help keep the company afloat and all its workforce employed without a single lay off.

As a result of those measures, Blake Enterprises, in spite of losing steam on the stock market in the past few days, has remained in the black financially.

"But in anyway, if you're talking about placing my daughter and her friends in police custody, then unless you agree that they should be given visitation rights by their parents, yours truly included, then there's no way I'm allowing that to happen." George continued.

"You're kidding, Mr. Blake." Iverson said crossly. "How should I know that you won't be giving your daughter ideas on breaking out of the cells, much less Captain Rogers meddling with the case?

"Of course I'm not." George retorted as he leaned closer to Iverson once again.

The others looked on as George, Gosnell and Iverson began bickering back and forth between each other.

Several more minutes went by before the mayor reluctantly agreed that the gang should be placed under house arrest with police guarding the house 24/7 for the time being, while Gosnell reluctantly agreed that the kids should be allowed to speak to their parents throughout the duration of the investigation.

For his part, though, George was unimpressed by the fact that police was going to monitor the kids' communications.

Sam was also not impressed by the arrangements made, especially given that Gosnell made clear that Shaggy is being exempted from being visited by his family, and the frown on his face only deepened as Gosnell ordered him and the investigators from Major Crimes to return back to Central.

Prior to leaving, Sam and Maggie both assured Shaggy that they will figure out a way around his situation.

A short while later, it was just George, the kids and a squad of police officers at the parking lot.

Eying Daphne and her father, Fred decided to walk over and join them.

"Uh...Mr. Blake?" Fred asked as he tapped on George's shoulder.

George turned around and upon seeing Fred, said, "Ah, Fred Jones, I presume?"

"Ah, yes sir." Fred replied and he offered his hand. "I...uh...just wanna thank you for...um...preventing us from spending a night in jail."

In spite of Fred's offered hand and the smile on his face, George only narrowed his eyes as he turned face to face with the blonde.

He noticed the way the blonde was glancing towards Daphne, and he didn't make a motion to take Fred's offered hand and shake it.

"No thanks is necessary, my boy." George finally said after some awkward silence. "However, maybe you should've considered keeping your friend in line, or otherwise, you all wouldn't be in this nice mess."

"Well, Tom's not exactly my friend, sir." Fred said as he retreated his hand, swallowing at the stern look on George's face. "He...uh...plays football with me on the school team, and...uh..."

"That's no excuse for slacking off on doing what friends are supposed to do, boy." George said with a growl. "It is obvious that your 'friend' had rubbed someone the wrong way beforehand, and you should've kept him in line and stop him from causing more trouble at school."

"Excuse me?" Fred arched his eyebrows. "Begging your pardon, sir. I know that a lot of people at school don't like Tom, due to him picking fights and seems to enjoy bullying, but you really think-"

"If so, then why did you not act and stop him from causing trouble in school, boy?" George glared before pointing right into his chest and added, "I should've known that as a Jones, you're bound to find yourself picking the wrong side to defend. And I know that look you gave to my daughter, Daphne. You honestly think I'll allow her to marry someone like you in the future?"

"What?!" Fred's mouth dropped onto the ground like an anvil. "B-but I barely know Daphne!"

"Doesn't matter." George retorted. "I've seen things like that before, and believe me, when someone as ignorant as you have his eyes on my daughter, it's never good news, especially when money gets involved in the equation."

Then, the businessman leaned in towards Fred and lowered his voice as he added, "It's your d**n fault that my daughter is in this mess right now! And all because of what? You afraid to get onto the wrong side of the mayor's son?"

He then turned away as he added, "Should've figured that you are just a chip off the old block."

It was then that the squad of police officers walked over with the sergeant saying, "Okay, Mr. Blake. It's time for the kids to be sent to their home for the next while."

"Of course." George deadpanned before turning to Daphne and added, "Do take care of yourself, dear."

"I will, Dad." Daphne nodded.

George nodded back before he made his way to his car, sighing and fuming as he went, leaving the kids to be ready to be escorted by the officers.

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	7. In the manor

Chapter 7: In the manor

The Beauregard Sanders Manor located across the street from Coolsville Central High School was the last place Shaggy expected to be where he will spend his time in house arrest during the duration of the murder investigation.

As the officers led the gang to the front door of the manor, Shaggy shivered as he looked around.

The manor looked pretty dark, and it didn't help with the fact that it was cloudy that late afternoon.

Built in 1878, the Beauregard Sanders Manor is a staple of the typical architectural style employed in manors and mansions built during the Victorian Era.

The sight of gargoyles decorating the manor did little to calm his already-tightened up nerves, and as the gang were led into the manor once the sergeant unlocked the front door, Shaggy could've sworn that one of the gargoyles were staring right into his eyes.

However, the main reason why Shaggy was feeling uneasy as they entered the manor was due to rumours of strange sightings and hauntings surrounding it.

As the name of the manor suggests, its original owner was one Civil War veteran by the name of Beauregard Sanders, who was of Ohio origin and joined the Confederate Army when the war broke out, where he then raised through the ranks before getting discharged as a colonel after the war ended in 1865.

He eventually moved out west, settled down in Crystal Cove County north of San Francisco and started a family.

As a matter a fact, the Civil War veteran played a major role in founding Coolsville, whose location on the northern shore of the San Francisco Bay led to its growth into a commence and trading centre.

With the population growth that came with the Industrial Revolution spreading into Crystal Cove, Coolsville was incorporated as a city in 1872 and subsequently became the administrative centre of the county, on top of being the county's most-populous city.

As the city grew, though, so did the usual social problems like crime and poverty.

In fact, before the Beauregard Sanders Manor and the Coolsville Academy were constructed, the area was home to a massive slum with the site of the manor being that of an orphanage.

Then, in 1876, a faulty stove at the kitchen of the orphanage resulted in a massive fire breaking out in the area, a fire that quickly spread to surrounding buildings thanks to lax fire and safety codes of the day, combined with the poor material qualities used for constructing the buildings.

The exact number of casualties of that massive fire, now known as the "Great Centennial Fire of Coolsville", remained unknown, though various sources listed the victims to be as high as in the 300s, the vast majority of them children, due to the chronic overcrowding of the residential housing in the area.

While the cause of the massive Centennial Fire was officially attributed to the faulty stove in the kitchen of the orphanage, there has been theories spreading around that pointed the finger directly to Beauregard Sanders.

The reason: The ex-Confederate wasn't exactly well-liked in town. As an industrialist who, at one point, owned more than a dozen steel mills in town, he had acquired a reputation as being harsh on his workers and stingy.

He rejected the workers demands for better wages and safer working conditions, and he has made clear of his disdain towards the workers taking any form of labour actions, whether be forming a union or going on strike.

His private security was constantly referred as the "secret police" by his workers, due to the roles they played in breaking up any labour actions.

And last but not least, Beauregard Sanders was known for always looking to acquire more land for his enterprises and personal possessions, and many of the residents find him to be selfish as a result of the means he used for acquiring more land.

In fact, the site of the orphanage, being located close to a river, was picked by Beauregard as a good site for his new manor and he has offered to buy the land from the orphanage and redevelop the land surrounding the site, even though the directors running the orphanage were firm in their refusal to move out.

The Centennial Fire broke out two days after Beauregard Sanders made his third pitch to the orphanage, firm on his desire to acquire the land for his new manor, and many in town believed that Beauregard Sanders had a hand in sabotaging the stove in the orphanage's kitchen, although there was no evidence to back that up.

Anyways, after the debris was cleared, the Beauregard Sanders Manor was constructed, eventually becoming the home to Beauregard Sanders and his expanding family.

However, a few weeks after the family moved into the manor, rumours started swirling around about the manor being haunted by the spirits of those killed in the Centennial Fire.

Beauregard Sanders and his wife reported hearing strange noises at night time, noises such as ghostly howls and footsteps, even though everyone in the manor were in bed by then.

Another strange occurrence included toys and other household objects vanishing, only to turn up in another part of the manor.

Dark, creepy and weird-shaped shadows frequently loomed over the manor at night time, even when everyone was gathered in the manor's living room.

It didn't help that many in Beauregard and his wife were superstitious, and at one point, they even called in a priest to exorcise the manor.

Even so, the hauntings continued, and things got so bad that Beauregard's wife ended up suffering a miscarriage a few weeks after settling down in their new home, and she never recovered from the strain.

Without any children, Beauregard Sanders had no heir to his estate, and when he and his wife both died in the 1890s, the manor sat vacant on the site for decades as no other buyer expressed interest in moving into a manor that is rumoured to be haunted by the spirits of the children who died in the Centennial Fire.

The City of Coolsville eventually bought the site, declared it a heritage property and eventually have the manor and restored to its prime condition.

Speaking of which, the project of restoring the manor had begun in 1992, but due to political deadlock surrounding the county's budget and finances, combined with the original contractor going out of business two years into the project, delays and cost-overruns, the project costs ended up ballooning in the years that followed.

As the gang were led into the manor, Shaggy can see the construction equipment on the front lot and shook his head.

Even though he was intimidated by the creepy exterior of the manor, Shaggy wasn't sure which was worse. Spending several nights in this creepy old manor or facing George Blake's scorn.

Well, long before their first encounter with George Blake, Shaggy had reached the conclusion that George Blake was not someone to mess with, as Mayor Iverson had came close to figuring that out the hard way.

It also explains why Daphne was impeccably dressed and well-groomed. Her father is the richest man in Coolsville, as the owner of the city's largest employer.

He almost felt sorry for Fred, though, considering the way George Blake interacted with the blonde.

Shaggy promised himself that he will stand out of George Blake's way and never to cross any member of the Blake family.

* * *

Daphne wasn't sure if she should be amazed by the architecture of the Beauregard Sanders Manor or be afraid of the manor in front of them.

With all those rumours of the haunting at the manor, not to mention the still-incomplete restoration project of the manor, she can list out dozens of reasons why spending the next several nights under house arrest in the manor is a bad idea spelled in capital letters.

She knew that one of her father's competitors is involved in the restoration project, though the project itself has, yet again, seen its scheduled completion date pushed back another couple years due to another "unexpected" complication.

As they entered the manor, it didn't take long before she noticed one of the cover sheets was covering one of the walls that was being taken down, and it has a paper sign that says, "Warning: Asbestos"

She noticed the way Shaggy and Scooby were shivering, and she couldn't do anything other than shaking her head. Not that she blamed them for feeling frightened by the interior and exterior of the manor.

* * *

"Alright kids." The police sergeant announced after they entered the living room of the manor. "This is where you kids will be spending your nights and weekends for the time being. During this time, we expect you all to be in bed by 11, up by 6, and back here from school by 4."

The gang shared looks with each other as the sergeant continued, "None of you are to speak with your parents unless we give you the green light for doing so, and any of you who tries to break out of the manor during curfew will forfeit their house arrest and be spending the nights and weekends in custody."

Turning to look at the gang, the sergeant asked, "Any questions?"

It was then that Velma raised her hand.

"Yes?" The sergeant turned to Velma.

"When will we be allowed to go home?" Velma asked.

"When our investigation into the murder is concluded." The sergeant replied. "And that's only if we find evidence that points the finger at someone else and not you kids."

Shaggy almost scoffed at the sergeant's remark, knowing that there's a very good chance the investigators assigned to the case from the City East Division aren't going to go through the due diligence and process of properly investigating the case.

As far as many decent-minded people in Coolsville are concerned, when it comes to policing and solving crimes, only the Major Crimes Division under the command of Captain Sam Rogers is capable of closing cases.

The Major Crimes Division is considered to be an elite detective division within the Coolsville Police Department, fully devoted to closing cases, whether be homicides, robberies or cold cases.

Usually, whenever the detective squad in a geographical police division like City East catches a case that requires expertise or has made headlines in the papers, such case ends up getting turned over to Major Crimes to deal with.

"But I digress." The sergeant said. "It's gettin' late now, you kids need to have supper and then it's lights out."

* * *

After a rather lousy dinner, consisting mainly of cold pizza that who knows how long has it been in the freezer and soft drinks, the kids were granted visits from their parents, with the exception of Shaggy, whose sister Maggie came to visit instead.

They were given clean clothes, in addition to the opportunity to chat.

"Like, has there been any progress in the case, Mags?" Shaggy asked his sister.

"From what Dad knows, no, not yet." Maggie shook her head. "Last I heard, they still have not located the murder weapon."

"Typical." Shaggy shook his head in frustration as he rubbed Scooby in the head. "Meanwhile, the others, Scoob and I are staying in this creepy old manor for the time being, until the cops finds evidence that points the finger at someone else."

"You honestly think they will, Norville?" Maggie asked.

"I won't be surprised if they wouldn't or won't." Shaggy replied. "Especially considering the way the chief ordered Major Crimes to be off the case."

"Tell me about it." Maggie nodded in agreement. "Those guys in Major Crimes are the only investigators Pops trusted in closing cases, and now they're shut out of it."

* * *

A short while later, the kids were ordered to their assigned bedrooms after visiting hours were over.

Each of the gang were given their own room, and they all wasted no time getting changed and settling in for bedtime.

Before lights out, the sergeant once again warned the kids that officers will be on guard duty and anyone who attempts to break out of the manor will be escorted to the City East station to spend the night.

Shaggy found himself lying flat on his bed with Scooby by his side and staring up towards the ceiling. There was a queasy feeling in his mind as he stared at the ceiling, finding himself having trouble falling asleep.

He didn't bother taking his eyes off the ceiling as the hallway lights were turned off. Only thing he hears is the sergeant assigning shifts to the officers standing guard at the manor for the night.

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	8. The mysterious deaths

Chapter 8: At Coolsville Central and mysterious deaths

Back at Coolsville Central, Captain Sam Rogers was in a stormy mood as he made his way into the squad room of the Major Crimes Division with a mug of coffee in hand.

Detectives Nelson McCormick and Nathaniel Hughes were already in the squad room, together with Lieutenant Jared Stephenson, and they were busy discussing aspects of the case with McCormick holding the murder book.

"Update." The captain demanded with an authoritative tone in his voice the minute he strolled right into the MCD squad room.

"We were able to track down the crime scene and take photographs before the guys at City East took over, captain." McCormick reported as the trio turned to face Sam.

"I take it that the crime scene wasn't at the janitor's closet." Sam frowned.

"No, sir." Hughes shook his head. "The location where the victim was killed was actually down the hallway, inside the locker room for the school football team."

"Given that there were no signs of a struggle inside the locker room, it could only mean that the victim went into the locker room on his own accord." McCormick added.

"Were you three able to find the victim's locker before City East took over?" Sam asked.

"Not the gym locker, sir." McCormick shook his head. "However, we did manage to find the victim's regular locker and took detailed notes on the contents right before the guys from City East crashed the party."

Sam simply grunted before Hughes produced a booklet and added, "However, I was able to snatch the victim's journal before the guys at City East relieved us."

Sam narrowed his eyes when he saw the booklet Hughes was holding, and then he nodded approvingly.

"Good call, Hughes." He said. "Work fast with the booklet before the mayor finds out that the journal's missing, though when it comes to that, you guys don't do anything and just keep going with your off-the-books investigation. I'll deal with the chief when things comes to that."

"You could lose your badge if you cover for us, Rogers." Stephenson interjected.

"Maybe or maybe not." Sam said as he continued on to his office. "Keep digging deeper until you get to the bottom of this, gentlemen. I want to know why exactly was the victim at the football team's locker room. Perhaps he was meeting someone, or he maybe got ambushed, I don't know. Keep digging and the answers you need to crack the case will present themselves."

After the captain entered his office and closed the door, Stephenson turned to the two investigators.

"I see he's taking news of his son's house arrest well." Hughes remarked.

"Well, that is set to change if we don't get to the bottom of this case." Stephenson frowned. "Without the murder weapon, you gentlemen will need more in order to clear this case, and that's only if City East is willing to lend us the actual murder book."

As the trio continued with their discussion, Sam drew out a breath as he settled in his office chair and started typing on the keyboard.

His old dog tags clinked against the desk as he used the mouse and typed, the dog tags a reminder of a past chapter of his life.

While he had more than two decades of investigative experience, it wasn't in a police station that he begun his work in crime investigations.

Instead, his investigative experience dates back to his past military service that began shortly after he graduated from high school in 1978.

Shortly after graduating from high school, Sam enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and during his first five years, he took part in special forces training and was assigned to FORECON.

Upon returning home from Grenada in 1983, Sam moved to inactive reserves as a corporal so he could attend university.

He graduated from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice four years later, whereupon he was then commissioned as a second lieutenant once he completed the ten-week training at Officer Candidates School in Quantico.

His leadership and bravery earned him numerous commendations, and by 1989, he had achieved the rank of captain, in time to be deployed to Panama in Operation Just Cause, followed by Desert Storm a year later.

On top of his special forces training, Sam also took part in military police training and had saw himself assigned to a military police unit during off times at FORECON.

One of his early assignments in FORECON was taking part in a classified joint training mission with the Navy SEALs, which forms the core of a series of trainings leading up to a subsequent classified mission in Columbia, a mission which Sam had taken part in not long before he was deployed to Grenada.

Sam grunted as the details of his past military deployments and training clouded his thoughts at the back of his mind, thoughts that were dissipated when someone knocked on his office door.

Turning to glare at the glass panel on the door, Sam took off his reading glasses as he saw Lieutenant Stephenson standing at the other side of the door with a handful of files in hand.

Without a word, the police captain beckoned Stephenson in, and the lieutenant nodded as he opened the door and let himself in.

"Three complete case files from the homicide table, captain." Stephenson said as he placed the stack of files on Sam's desk.

Sam grunted as he glanced at the three files, noting the titles of the individual cases on those files.

He then looked up at Stephenson and nodded. "Anything else, Lieutenant?"

"No, sir." Stephenson turned to leave. "However, Detectives McCormick and Hughes are on their way to the coroner's to get a first-hand glimpse on how the victim died."

"Of course." Sam nodded. "Keep me posted when they get the autopsy reports."

"You got it, Rogers." Stephenson nodded back as he made his way out of Sam's office, closing the door as he stepped back into the squad room.

Sam huffed as he turned towards the stack of case files once more and began to move the individual files, first onto his desk for a quick read-through, and then to his case file cabinets for storage later on.

Putting on his glasses and taking a sip of his coffee, the police captain opened the first case file that was titled "McConnell Case".

Scanning through the files, he read about how the victim, whose name was Mindy McConnell, was intending to whistle blow on the unethical business practices of her employer, only to meet a gruesome end when she got ambushed by a hired killer on her way home from a courthouse.

The police captain frowned when he noted that the victim of the McConnell Case was a former Marine who had seen action in Afghanistan and Iraq and like him, she also had special forces training and was assigned to FORECON.

 _The culprit must be a well-trained killer or even a mercenary who must've been discharged from service._ Sam thought to himself before moving on to the information sheets on the arrested killer, who was indeed what Sam thought he was.

Sam's frown deepened as he looked at the file photo of the killer, noted the military-style haircut and scoffed.

 _Men like this fella are a disgrace to the uniform._ He thought to himself before closing the file and then moved it to the file cabinets.

As he placed the file in the file cabinet, his eyes settled on a photo on his desk and he paused.

It was a photo of him and a squad of Marines grouped together with a squad of Navy SEALs, and the police captain remembered the occasion of the photo being taken.

The photo was taken during his deployment to Somalia in 1993, during which he was assigned to command a joint Marine-Navy task force comprising of the FORECON and the SEALs.

He remembered serving with a lot of excellent SEALs during that time, not to mention the firefights they were engaged in and helping allied forces in securing footholds from the insurgents.

Anyhow, his FORECON training has also served him well when it comes to police work in a city like Coolsville, where its institutions are rotten to the core.

Unfortunately, his FORECON training hasn't exactly prepared him to deal with the fallout related to the murder of the mayor's son and the fact that his own son is under house arrest and suspicion for the deed.

It was times like this that made Sam resent the mayor even more, and his frown deepened as he thought about the exact location where Shaggy were being held for the duration of his house arrest.

The Beauregard Sanders Manor was the last place he expected the gang to be held at, considering the fact that the manor is still undergoing restoration and shouldn't be a place to hold murder suspects under house arrest.

Speaking of which, he was thankful that George Blake arrived at the school parking lot when he did, because if it wasn't for him, there's a very good chance that the gang would be held in police custody for the duration of the investigation.

Sam knew that the house arrest wasn't exactly an improvement over the prospect of the gang being taken into police custody, especially since the house arrest was only for the duration of the investigation and that it's only a matter of time before the gang are finally taken into police custody for the murder.

At the thought of the City East Division, Sam thought about Detective Nathaniel Hughes, who he had handpicked from the division in question shortly after he was promoted to captain and was placed in charge of MCD.

The captain will never forget what Hughes had said to him when he was handpicked to the MCD.

"If anything, captain, don't expect me to turn in a case that had went cold." Hughes told him that day. "In fact, there's no way in h*ll I intend to return to that f**king sewer of a division."

For a while, Sam had always wondered why Hughes was very insistent in not returning to City East, but now he understood why.

As things turned out, the lead detective in the Iverson case from City East is one Detective Lance Raitt, and prior to getting handpicked to MCD, Hughes was Raitt's junior partner at City East.

The fact that Raitt had early on settled to point the finger towards his son added a sense of urgency and understanding Sam felt about Hughes regarding City East.

Hughes had early on guaranteed to the captain that if left to their own devices, there's no way the City East Division is going to properly go through the due diligence of investigating the case and finding the culprit.

Thinking back to what the detective had said, Sam turned his glare towards his office window, where he can get a good view of the squad room.

At present, a few other teams were in their cubicles hard at work with their cases.

* * *

 _October 6, 2009_

It was already close to two o'clock in the early morning, and yet Shaggy found himself tossing and turning in bed.

He wasn't sure which was worse: Putting up with the two police officers, who were supposed to be guarding them, snoring away on the front porch at this time of the night, or the eerie feeling of the manor.

He can feel it. Something sinister definitely happened here, and it wasn't the Centennial Fire that claimed the lives of the orphans living in the orphanage that used to occupy the site.

Come to think of it, the circumstances behind the passing of Beauregard Sanders and his wife was, in one word, mysterious.

It was known that the old colonel and his wife both died in 1895, but the circumstances surrounding their deaths was mysterious and warrants getting referred to as a ghost story in its own right.

The couple were last seen together alive on February 12 of that year, and in the days that followed, no one reported seeing either of them getting out of the manor like they always do on a daily basis.

The days turned into weeks, and two months went by before the couple's absence became very pronounced, especially after Beauregard missed an important business conference.

The old colonel never sent a telegraph to the conference ahead of time informing them of his impending absence from the conference, and all calls directed to the manor were never answered.

Finally, on April 17th, a neighbour who had a spare key to the manor decided to check in on the couple.

Entering the manor, nothing in the creation of mankind could prepare the neighbour for the grisly discovery he had made in the manor's living room.

Beauregard Sanders and his wife Mayella were both slumped dead in their armchairs. Their corpses had decayed to a point that the neighbour could barely recognize them, if it weren't for the tattoo on Beauregard's shoulder and the gold diamond ring on Mayella's finger.

Police was dispatched to the manor and investigations convened. However, the investigators were baffled by a number of details.

First off, the couple each had a bullet hole in their foreheads, yet there wasn't any traces of blood present, which could mean that the couple were not killed in the living room.

Second, even though it is plausible that someone could've broken into the manor in the dead of night while the couple were sleeping, there were no traces of blood or even a bullet hole anywhere in the manor.

Third, the neighbours reported that the couple never had any visitors since they were last seen alive, and as far as investigators went, the only fingerprints on the manor's front and back doors were that of the couple.

And fourth, there were no signs of a break-in, and the neighbour was insistent that the spare key was in his possession at all times, plus if he were to break into the manor through the main doors, his fingerprints would've been left on the door knobs and that the other fingerprints would've been smudged.

But what was even more weird was that even though the couple has been dead for quite some time prior to the grisly discovery, there were no flies or rodents whatsoever present when the discovery was made, nor were there any signs that any form of life has inhabited at the manor since the couple was last seen alive.

With those mysterious details, the deaths of Beauregard Sanders and his wife went down as unsolved with an asterisk indicating the mysterious circumstances behind the deaths.

Shaggy really wished that he hadn't read about the grisly details surrounding the death of Beauregard Sanders and his wife earlier.

Unable to sleep, Shaggy got up from bed and decided to take a walk around.

A trip to the washroom to splash his face ought to calm him down, though he wasn't sure if he wanna get around the creepy manor in the dark.

However, unless he gave himself a splash in the face at the washroom sink, he highly doubt he could sleep for the remainder of the night.

With that in mind, Shaggy made his way out of his room and stepped out onto the hallway.

It took several steps down the hallway before he bumped right into something, or rather, someone.

* * *

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	9. In the kitchen and the search begins

Chapter 9: In the kitchen and the search begins

Shaggy almost immediately jumped the minute he bumped right into the object, and he involuntarily let out a yelp.

"Zoinks!" He swallowed as he jumped.

"Jeepers!" Came another voice, and it was then that Shaggy recognized it.

"D-Daphne?" He asked.

"Yes, that's me." Daphne replied in the darkness, and as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he came to recognize Daphne's shadowed outline as she stood beside him.

Looking down, he then noticed that his elbow was right on Daphne's hip, and he quickly retreated it.

"Like, so sorry about that." Shaggy said. "I didn't see you in the dark, and when I bumped into you, I thought that you were something or someone unwelcome."

"No worries." Daphne waved a hand as they continued on down the dark hallway. "I take it that you couldn't sleep, eh?"

"Nope." Shaggy shook his head. "Thought that I ought to take a trip to the washroom to give my face a splash."

"I see what you mean." Daphne nodded. "In a place like this, the dark setting and the disturbing legend behind the manor can leave anyone on edge."

"Tell me about it." Shaggy agreed.

There was some silence between the two, and some minutes went by before they arrived at the washroom.

Shaggy gestured towards the washroom door, and Daphne nodded before she made her way inside.

As the redhead ran the sink water to give her face a splash of water, Shaggy looked around and saw the stairs.

Swiftly, he moved towards the stairs just as Daphne finished drying her face and exited the washroom.

"Where are you going, Shag?" She asked.

"Like, I was thinking that maybe I ought to get myself a midnight snack to settle my stomach." Shaggy replied as he made his way down the stairs. "Splashing my face probably wouldn't do much in helping me get some sleep if I have an empty stomach."

"I highly doubt if the kitchen is stocked, Shaggy." Daphne frowned, though she nonetheless followed him down the stairs.

* * *

True to Daphne's words, other than a few cans of processed food, the kitchen cabinets were mostly empty, and Shaggy wasn't having any luck with the refrigerator, which itself was unplugged and empty.

"So much for a midnight snack." Shaggy sighed after they searched through the kitchen.

"Not that I blame you." Daphne shrugged. "In fact-"

Before the redhead could continue, they both heard a soft crash coming from the darkness in the main floor.

Immediately, the duo became alert and glanced at each other.

Placing a finger by his mouth, Shaggy swiftly grabbed a wooden spoon and he moved swiftly to the side of the kitchen entrance with Daphne joining suit.

The redhead clutched Shaggy's shirt anxiously as Shaggy flicked the lights off and held the wooden spoon above his head, ready to strike at any given moment.

There were a couple of footsteps making their way towards the doorway leading to the kitchen, and the duo held their breaths collectively.

The minute the intruder stepped into the kitchen, Shaggy instinctively swung the spoon down.

"Ow!" The exclamation sounded familiar, and Shaggy pondered for a brief minute before he swiftly flicked the lights back on, revealing the source to be none other than Fred Jones, with Velma closely behind the blonde.

At the sight of Fred and Velma, both Shaggy and Daphne relaxed as the former put his hand down with the wooden spoon in hand.

"Oh, sorry about that, Freddie." Shaggy said as Fred and Velma entered the kitchen.

"We thought you guys were intruders." Daphne added as Fred looked at them with a soured look on his face.

Fred grunted as he rubbed his temple while Velma asked, "What are you guys doing here in the kitchen?"

"Couldn't sleep." Shaggy shrugged. "Thought I'd grab myself a midnight snack, though the accommodation is-"

Looking towards the empty cabinets, he continued, "-sorely lacking."

"I guess it's safe to say that you guys also couldn't sleep as well, eh?" Daphne asked.

Fred and Velma both nodded.

"Of all the places they chose to have us locked up to serve out our house arrest, they just have to chose this particular house." Velma said.

"Tell me about it." Daphne agreed. "The place sure is filthy with dust, and I even spotted a mouse hole in my room."

Fred chuckled lightly and turned towards Shaggy and nudged him gently. "Women, huh?"

Shaggy only grunted in reply while the girls turned their glare towards the blonde, clearly not impressed by the woman's stereotype Fred had just brought up.

Noticing the sour and disapproving looks on the girls' faces, the blonde quickly turned serious again.

"In anyway, having to deal with pests in this house is the least of our worries, guys." Velma said. "The bigger question is: How are we gonna prove our innocence?"

"Yeah." Fred agreed. "If we just stay here and do nothing, then it's only a matter a time before the cops concluded that we were the killers."

"You honestly don't believe the cops are that dumb, do you?" Velma scoffed.

"When you're talking about my father's men being shut out of the investigation, then yeah, it's that bad." Shaggy shrugged.

"When it comes to that, I'm gonna point the finger at you for failing to keep your friend in line, Fred." Daphne said as she glared at the blonde.

"For the last time, Tom's not my friend!" Fred glared back. "Sure, we do play together on the football team, but that doesn't mean we hang out together frequently outside of team practice, games and other team-related events."

"Try convincing my father that." Daphne shot back.

"I..." Fred said blankly before huffing and continued, "I honestly don't know why your father had such a biased view of me, heck I don't even know where did he get the idea that would suggest that you and I were going out together!"

"Maybe the way you were looking at me gave him the idea." Daphne deadpanned.

"And you know how bad things are when a man like George Blake disapproves of your presence." Velma added as she folded her arms. "Your negligence in keeping Tom in mind is exactly why are we in this nice mess right now!"

"And how do you know that Mr. Blake's judgement is trustworthy?" Fred challenged, not willing to back down.

"My father's seen things throughout his days as both a Marine and a businessman, and trust me, he knows what he talks about even if it doesn't sound reasonable." Daphne retorted. "You barely know him, so it's debatable on whether or not it's your place to judge him."

Before Fred had a chance to retort, another pair of footsteps approached the doorway to the kitchen, and the gang turned, only for their eyes to be met by the stern expression on the face of a police officer.

"Well, well, well." The officer said as he stepped into the kitchen. "What have we here?"

Noting the way the kids were standing in the kitchen, he then added, "You punks having a fight? What are you doing here in the kitchen anyhow?"

The gang shared looks with each other, then they all turned towards the police officer.

"Uh...we were...uh...just clearing our minds, Officer McBride." Daphne quickly said as she noticed the nameplate on the officer's uniform.

"By arguing with each other?" McBride folded his arms.

"We were...uh...arguing about who was responsible for the mess in...the upstairs bathroom." Fred quickly added.

Although he never actually went into the upstairs bedroom, the blonde wasn't actually lying. As Daphne had noticed during her brief trip to the washroom, she noticed a large stain on the toilet and in the bathtub.

Officer McBride looked at each of the gang, the glare on his face intensifying as if he was trying to tell if they were lying or not.

After what felt like hours, McBride turned back towards the hallway.

"Just get back to sleep!" He barked on his way out. "The next time I catch you kids up, you might as well as spent the rest of the night in the cells."

Once the officer was out of earshot, the gang looked at each other in awkward silence.

"Like, all this arguing isn't getting us anywhere, guys." Shaggy said. "You've heard the officer. Next time he catches us arguing, we will be spending the night in the cold cells of the City East Division."

"And besides, we still have to worry about clearing our names, as Velma had pointed out earlier." Daphne agreed.

"Right." Fred nodded. "So what I was thinking is that we could try to sneak out of the house."

"And go where?" Daphne asked.

"I don't know, maybe the crime scene!" Fred threw his arms opened.

"At this time of the night?" Daphne asked. "How are we even supposed to get into the school building when it's locked up tight?"

"Not to mention that we still have the cops outside to deal with." Velma added.

"You guys haven't even let me finish with my plan." Fred narrowed his eyes, and Shaggy shook his head.

As Fred and the girls argued back and forth, this time in hushed whispers, Shaggy turned towards the doorway and saw Scooby standing there.

"Hey Scoob." He knelt down towards the Great Dane to rub his back. "Couldn't sleep, eh?"

"Ri can't." Scooby shook his head before nodding towards Fred and the girls and added, "Rhat are rey fighting rabout?"

"Like, trying to get out of here so we could work and try to clear our names, Scoob." Shaggy sighed before shaking his head and added, "Though I myself don't even know where we should be going?"

"Ri think ri know where." Scooby replied.

Fred and the girls were still arguing in whispers, though as tempers began to rise, it was clear that it's only a matter a time before one of them starts yelling.

"You girls don't have anything to pr-" Fred was about to continue when Shaggy whistled loudly.

The trio paused and turned towards Shaggy, who had his hands on his hips.

"Guys, Scoob here knows where we should be going." He said as he gestured towards Scooby.

Fred and the girls shared looks with each other, then Velma asked, "Where?"

* * *

A short while later, the group were walking down the trail and following Scooby not long after managing to give the cops guarding them the slip.

"Just as this day couldn't get any weirder." Velma muttered.

"You're telling me." Fred agreed. "First, we spotted what appeared to be ghosts who may be responsible for Tom's death, and now we're following a dog to the cemetery in hopes of finding said ghosts."

"Rey!" Scooby paused from his sniffing briefly and growled at Fred before resuming his sniffing.

"Easy, Scoob." Shaggy said. "Like, just focus on the sniffing part so we don't have to drag this out all night."

"Thank goodness the attic was filled with unused mannequins." Daphne remarked. "I wonder what was Beauregard's wife doing with those mannequins."

In mentioning the mannequins, Daphne was referring to the mannequins they have grabbed from the attic and laid down on their respective beds with the sheets over.

There was a lone officer keeping watch at the back porch when they got downstairs again and made their way to the back door, however he turned out to be fast asleep as they sneaked out.

"Considering the creepy legend behind the manor's haunting, I'd rather not know." Velma said.

During this time, in the process of his sniffing on the ground, Scooby accidentally sniffed in two flowers into his nose, causing him to pause.

The gang stopped and looked towards Scooby as the Great Dane tried to snort the two flowers out of his nose, shaking his head repeatedly.

Sharing looks with each other, the gang were about to intervene when Scooby managed to get the two flowers out of his nose.

Shaking his head, Scooby then carried on sniffing the ground while the gang carried on following him with their flashlights on.

As the gang followed Scooby deeper into the woods, it became clear that the darkness surrounding them and the shadows of the trees on both sides of the trail was giving them an uneasy feeling.

"This place sure is creepy during the night." Daphne remarked as she noticed an owl watching them.

"Especially since there are no lamps around except for our flashlights." Velma agreed.

It was then that Scooby stopped, and the gang followed suit as they saw where they were at.

Shining their flashlights towards the giant sign, the gang could all see that they were at the entrance to an old cemetery.

"Ah, so, like, here's where Scoob had found the two ghosts." Shaggy said excitingly.

Fred and the girls shared looks with each other as he chuckled nervously and added, "Now we can head back to the manor."

He then proceeded to turn and go, but stopped as Daphne stood in his way.

The redhead gave him a look that made it clear to him that she has no intention of heading back to the manor and that they should head into the cemetery.

As if following her lead, Fred nodded and made him turn back around before he pushed him forward.

Swallowing, Shaggy swing his arms lightly as Fred and the girls walked past him and towards the cemetery.

"Oh, come on, guys!" He said. "We're not actually heading _into_ a cemetery at this time of the night, are we?"

When the gang didn't respond, Shaggy sighed before he jogged through the opened gate and caught up with the others.

* * *

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	10. At the cemetery and busted

Chapter 10: At the cemetery and busted

With Scooby taking the lead, the gang looked around anxiously as they entered the cemetery with their flashlights on.

"Wow-wee." Velma remarked as she shined her flashlight towards the nearby tombstones. "The city's guidebook wasn't kidding when it mentioned that the establishment of the cemetery predates Coolsville's incorporation as a city in 1872."

With her flashlight shining towards a nearby tombstone, she added, "A lot of these tombstones have been here for more than a century."

"No kidding." Daphne agreed as they continued on through the cemetery.

As Daphne and Velma made those remarks, Shaggy said to Scooby.

"Like, are you sure this is the place where you've spotted those two ghosts, Scoob?" He asked.

Scooby paused, turned towards him and nodded. "Reah."

Shaggy nodded and swallowed. "Was afraid you were gonna say that."

"It's definitely best if we stick together." Fred agreed.

The others nodded as they continued following Scooby, and it was clear that even with all of their flashlights on, the light wasn't exactly enough to penetrate through the lingering darkness.

Another minute went by before Fred, who was walking slower than usual, bumped right into Daphne, who was behind him.

At the bump, Fred almost immediately jumped in fright, and Daphne turned towards him.

"You scared?" The redhead asked.

"Uh...no, not at all." Fred quickly calmed down, though he blushed heavily as he added, "I was...a bit...jumpy...yeah, jumpy, that's all."

Even in the darkness, the blonde can see the look of skepticism on Daphne's face.

"You sure?" Daphne asked.

"Of...of course. What made you think I was scared?" Fred quickly clarified.

"The way you've jumped earlier." Daphne pointed out.

"Jumped?" Fred asked. "More like I was surprised, that's all. I can't be scared, man. I play on the school football team, I can't be scared."

"Not even after what Mr. Blake had said to you earlier?" Velma added.

Daphne almost laughed while Fred muttered under his breath. "Et tu, Velma?"

Velma surpassed an urge to chuckle, though the situation shifted when Scooby started barking.

"Hey, I think Scooby's found it!" Shaggy announced, and Fred and the girls turned towards them.

By this point, Scooby had quickly adopted the pose of a hunting dog who had just located its prey, with his nose pointing right towards two particular tombstones.

Velma narrowed her eyes at the sight of the two tombstones and she walked towards them as Fred and Daphne looked on.

"Ezekial Gallows and Prudence Prufrock." Velma read the engravings on the tombstones.

Noting the distance between the two graves, she then added, "They don't seem to be related, yet their tombstones are right next to each other with no space in between."

"I wonder why's that." Fred remarked.

"Huh." Velma grunted before reaching into her bag and pulled out a sheet of paper. "Hold the light for me."

Daphne and the boys shared looks with each other before they all shined their flashlights towards Velma, watching her rubbing the sheet of paper onto the tombstones.

The trio then looked on as Velma closely examined the sheet of paper, adjusted her glasses and then turned towards them.

"Based on my observations of the fragments I've collected from the tombstones, it appears these two people have died, along with most of the people in this part of the cemetery, during the Crystal Cove Tsunami that flooded the town." Velma adjusted her glasses as she spoke.

Daphne and the boys shared looks with each other in surprise as she continued, "The tsunami was formed as a result of the aftershocks from the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, which led to a lot of of casualties on that fateful day as the whole city was flooded by the tsunami waters."

"Holy moly." Fred remarked.

As everyone stood by, Shaggy frowned when he remembered something.

"Hang on." He said.

"What is it?" Velma said as they all turned towards him.

"I remember seeing a third ghost issuing the other two ghosts orders when I was on my way to my locker, and I happened to have sneezed and that the third ghost ordered the other two ghosts to kill when they caught me." Shaggy winced at the memory.

"So?" Fred and Daphne both arched their eyebrows.

"Like, that third ghost was dressed completely in black, complete with a hood." Shaggy said before pointing at the two tombstones and added, "Yet, we only have two graves here."

Fred and the girls frowned and shared looks with each other.

"A third ghost." Velma repeated as she folded her arms.

"That's right." Shaggy insisted. "And even though Scoob didn't spot the third ghost, you know the saying on how dogs have this sixth sense that can detect the paranormal."

He then turned towards Scooby as he added, "You know what I'm saying, right Scoob?"

"Reah." Scooby nodded. "Ri know rhat rou've came into contact with re third ghost, ret Ri can't put my paw ron rhere rat third ghost ris supposed to rome from."

"Which means that either the third ghost, the one issuing the orders to the two ghosts, wasn't originated from this cemetery or it was a fake." Daphne pointed out.

"Exactly." Shaggy nodded.

Fred and Velma shared looks with each other at the remark, then they turned back towards Shaggy.

"Okay, for the sake of argument, say that the third ghost is a fake, who do you think was behind those two ghost appearances?" Fred asked.

"Likely the same guy that was responsible for Thomas' death." Shaggy quickly said. "The hallway where I spotted the gruesome trio was right at where the football locker room is at."

Velma frowned when she remembered something.

"What is it?" Daphne asked when she noted the frown on Velma's face.

"I was just thinking about the moment when we discovered Tom in the storage room." Velma replied. "When I examined him for a pulse, he was still wearing his football uniform."

Turning towards Fred, she then added, "Does Tom ever where his football uniform outside of practice?"

"No." Fred shook his head. "No one on the team ever does. In fact, Coach Conway has made it clear to us that we must bring a change in clothing for practice and game days, and once practice is over, we must change out of our uniforms at the locker room."

"Which means that Tom wasn't killed at the storage room." Velma interjected.

"The lack of blood on the floor in the storage room also confirms that." Daphne nodded. "His body was moved."

"And I'll bet that the football locker room was where he was ambushed and killed." Velma concluded.

"Which may explain why that third ghost ordered the other two ghosts to go after Shag." Fred said as they turned towards Shaggy. "He must've stumbled onto them as they were finishing the deed."

"Did you remember what the three ghosts were saying when you stumbled onto them, Shag?" Daphne asked.

Shaggy frowned. "Like, all I was able to make out was 'catching a snooper' and that the two ghosts will make any potential snoopers think twice on digging into something."

"Digging into what?" Velma asked.

"Whatever it was, I don't know." Shaggy shrugged. "Because my nose decided to inhale some dust at that moment, and I wasn't able to hold it much longer."

Velma and Daphne both rolled their eyes as they shared looks with each other, all as Fred cleared his throat.

"In any way, gang, looks like we've got a mystery in our hands." Fred said.

"Who is that third ghost and what did Tom did to rub him the wrong way." Velma nodded.

"And why is he going through the trouble of framing us for Tom's death." Daphne added.

* * *

A short while later, the gang had made it back to the Manor, having had snuck past the snoring officer on the front porch.

"Now, we're going to have to figure out how to get to the bottom of this while still being considered as the main suspect's in Tom's death, gang." Fred was saying once they reached the second floor of the manor.

"Yeah, especially knowing that the cops aren't gonna do much in clearing this case." Velma agreed.

"If only there is a way for us to do that..." Daphne pondered as they prepared to split up and head into their rooms.

Just as the gang were about to split up, though, the hallway lights suddenly switched on, and the gang paused and looked around.

"Well, well, well." A voice from the stairs remarked, and the gang all turned towards the source, only for their eyes to meet the stern expression of Sergeant Daniel McBride, who looked none to pleased to see them.

"What have we got here?" McBride demanded as he walked towards the gang.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Rogers home, Sam and his wife Wendy were in their bedroom deep in sleep when the phone rang.

The couple almost immediately groaned and Sam grunted as he got up.

"I'll take it, honey." Sam grunted as he reached over to the phone and answered it. "Rogers here."

A pause went by before he said, "Hey, McBride. What's up?"

Another pause went by before the captain became alert. "He what?"

At that remark, Wendy turned over and opened one eye.

Sam groaned and then he got off the bed as he said, "Okay. I will be right over, Sergeant. Talk to you later."

The captain then hung up the phone, groaned and turned towards Wendy.

"What's going on, Sam?" Wendy asked in concern.

* * *

Over at the City East Division, the gang were all looking out of the cell doors.

"So much for sneaking out of the manor." Velma remarked.

"You're telling me." Daphne agreed. "And now here we are."

"At least we're not spending the night in the dog pound, unlike poor Scooby." Fred said, only for Shaggy and the girls to glare at him.

At the glares, Fred backtracks and said, "Okay, that didn't sound right at all."

Fortunately, the awkward silence was broken when footsteps were heard from the hallway.

"This way, captain." One of the officers was saying, and the gang turned towards the source of the voice and footsteps.

When the sources approached the cells, Shaggy recognized his father, who was walking with Sergeant McBride.

"Well, Mr. Rogers." McBride announced as they stopped at the cell. "Consider this your lucky day."

Fred and the girls turned towards Shaggy as Sam looked at his son.

"Norville." He said.

Shaggy swallowed. "Dad."

The police captain sighed before saying, "I hope you all have a good reason on what on heavens name were you all thinking when you snuck out of the manor few hours ago."

"Uh, we actually do, Captain Rogers." Fred piped up.

"It has something to do with the ghosts Scooby had spotted the other night, the ones who we all spotted earlier that afternoon." Daphne said.

"You don't say." Sam narrowed his eyes, and McBride turned towards him.

"Please don't tell me that they've decided to cook up this ghost story in order to provide excuses to get out of this one, sir." McBride said.

"I honestly don't know what to think." Sam snapped as he rubbed his forehead before glaring at each of the gang in the cells.

Looking at them sternly, he then added, "I don't have much time, since I'm not even supposed to be here, so you kids have five minutes to explain to me what the h*ll is going on here."

Then, looking at Shaggy specifically, Sam added, "So don't make this a complete waste of my time. Understood?"

Shaggy, Fred, Velma and Daphne all shared looks with each other, then they all nodded.

"Okay, so what prompted you all to sneak out of the manor in the dead of night five hours ago?" Sam demanded.

* * *

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	11. Explanations and some father-son tension

Chapter 11: Explanations and some father-son tension

The gang glanced at each other as the police captain continued to glare at them, and Fred could've sworn that Shaggy's father has just cooled the room down by ten degrees with the patented glare he is subjecting them to.

"Well...so you see, Captain Rogers..." Fred began as he swallowed. "Neither of us couldn't sleep well in the manor, and we all happened to end up in the kitchen to clear our minds."

"In a manner of speaking." Velma interjected. "But anyways, knowing how the police division that has taken over the case handles cases like this, do you really expect us to stick around and do nothing in the manor and let the case go down in the direction it was heading, Captain Rogers?"

Sam and McBride shared glances with each other at Velma's questioning, then the captain turned his attention to her.

"Okay, so for the sake of argument, let's say that there are indeed ghosts involved in this mess." Sam folded his arms. "What prompted you kids to sneak out of the manor in the dead of night?"

"For one thing, Pops, Scoob was the one who felt that he could help, namely with where he had first encountered the ghosts when Mags and I walked him couple days ago." Shaggy explained.

"And so he led you kids to the cemetery." Sam interjected.

"Did you kids find anything?" McBride added.

"Scooby led us to the graves belonging to two people that are buried together, but aren't even related." Daphne said. "Both of them were victims of the flooding from the Crystal Cove Tsunami of 1906 that struck in the aftermath of the San Francisco earthquake."

"However, it was then that Shaggy recalled seeing a third ghost at school while on his way to his locker." Fred continued.

"Oh, really?" McBride asked as he and Sam turned towards Shaggy. "A third ghost?"

"Yeah." Shaggy nodded. "He was the one issuing the orders to the two other ghosts and ordered them to go after me and the gang when I got caught sneezing."

"And you kids didn't spot the grave corresponding to that third ghost." Sam folded his arms.

"No, Captain." Velma shook her head. "In fact, I'm sure you know the old saying on how dogs have some sort of sixth sense that can detect the paranormal."

"And that Scooby is supposed to be able to figure out where that third ghost came from, yet while we were at the cemetery, he pointed out that he can't." Daphne said.

"Meaning that either the third ghost wasn't from the cemetery we were at, or he's a complete fake." Fred added.

Sam and McBride glanced at each other at the remark, then he urged, "Alright, so let's say that I believe your story about the ghosts and how one of them is a fake."

"That doesn't explain who killed Thomas Iverson." McBride added.

"Well, I spotted those ghosts at the entrance to the football locker room." Shaggy said. "And Velma recalled seeing that Tom was in his football uniform when we found him in the janitor's closet."

"Though I should note that we're not allowed to wear our uniforms or jerseys outside of practice and that we must change out of the jerseys in the football locker room." Fred added.

"Yes, we have already established that the victim was killed in the football locker room." Sam nodded.

"And the third ghost was saying something about catching snoopers and that the presence of the two ghosts should make any potential snooper think twice about digging into something when I passed by them and stopped to listen." Shaggy added.

"Dig into what?" Sam raised an eyebrow.

"Whatever it was, like, I don't know, Pops." Shaggy shrugged. "Because it was then that I sneezed, and the third ghost caught me listening in and ordered the two ghosts to go after me, which then brought me back to the library, and eventually us to the storage room where Tom's body was found."

Sam exhaled briefly as he and McBride shared looks with each other, then the captain turned back towards the gang.

"So all that sneaking out to the cemetery, it was mainly because of that ghost sighting and trying to clear your own names, eh?" Sam frowned.

"That's exactly it, sir." Fred nodded.

"Well, I suppose your stories makes sense considering the situation you kids are in right now." Sam said. "And while I ultimately want to see to it that you kids return to your homes safe and sound while having the actual killer behind bars, I highly doubt your ghost story is gonna fly."

"Not to mention that by sneaking out of the manor, you kids are only making yourselves look more guilty and easier for the mayor to seal the case as he sees fit." McBride added.

The gang shared glances with each other, then Fred asked, "So what's going to happen next, Captain?"

"I'll tell you kids what's gonna happen next." Sam growled. "You all are gonna remain under house arrest for the duration of the investigation until my men and I have figured out a way to clear your names."

"I thought you guys were shut out of the investigation under orders from the chief, Pops." Shaggy frowned.

Sam turned his glare towards Shaggy, and the former Marine said sternly, "Now don't you play smart like this, young man. You and your friends could've gotten yourselves in bigger trouble if it wasn't for McBride here, especially if it was someone else that caught you all sneaking out the way you did."

"But Dad-" Shaggy protested, only for the captain to cut him off.

"Don't you 'But Dad' me, Norville." Sam snapped. "What part of staying put and letting the professionals figure this mess out do you not understand?"

There was some silence from the group, then McBride nodded.

"I've thought so too." The sergeant said.

"Anyways, I better be off now before one of Gosnell's men decides to rat me out." Sam said before glaring at the gang and added, "In the meantime, you kids all stay put and not try to play detective. Having to deal with you all being accused of a crime you didn't commit is already stressful enough, I don't need you kids sneaking out from house arrest to contribute more stress."

Then, with an authoritative tone in his voice, he added, "Is that understood?"

The gang shared glances with each other before they all nodded.

"Yes, Captain." Fred said.

"Good." Sam nodded before turning to Shaggy and added, "And Norville, once we have this all cleared up later, remind me to speak with you about this."

Shaggy only nodded back at his father, and the captain took his leave without another word.

* * *

The gang spent the rest of the night and into the mid morning in police custody without further incident, and by the time lunchtime arrived, the officers have decided to release them back to the Manor on the promise that they behave themselves.

They were also allowed to roam around town, though they can only do so under the close supervision of a police detail assigned to keep watch on them.

While they are barred from using any electronic devices with Internet connection or to make phone calls, nowhere in the house arrest package did it mention any form of restrictions in using the city public library.

And that's where Velma decided to head to that afternoon while everyone else decided to stay put at the manor.

Given that they are all currently suspended from school for the time being, it leaves the gang free to further explore the manor.

While the sunlight from outside does make the manor less haunted-looking, there were a few areas in the manor that looks quite sketchy in broad daylight and can give one the chills.

"Like, I don't honestly understand why would Beauregard Sanders hate anyone else to the point of literally transforming the basement into a torture chamber?" Shaggy remarked as he and Scooby explored the basement.

"Ri don't reither, Raggy." Scooby agreed.

Meanwhile, Daphne was less than impressed as she explored the attic of the manor.

"With all these cobwebs, this place can sure use some serious dusting for a historical landmark." Daphne remarked as she touched the nearby wall and rubbed her fingers.

"Not to mention throwing out a lot of junk." Fred added as he examined several of the discarded mannequins. "This place sure has a lot of mannequins, even for a manor designated as a historical landmark."

It was almost 16:30 when Velma returned from the public library, and the gang looked on as she entered with a thick book in hand.

"Anything, Velma?" Fred asked in greeting as they all seated in the manor's kitchen.

"As a matter a fact, I have found something." Velma nodded. "Namely the information on Ezekial Gallows and Prudence Prufrock, our two ghosts."

"Ah, so what are they doing floating around here and scaring the wits out of us?" Shaggy asked as Velma placed the book on the table and flipped through the pages.

Fred and Daphne both chuckled at Shaggy's remark while Velma deadpanned. "Very amusing, Shaggy."

The blonde and the redhead both returned to seriousness as Velma reached a page and continued, "But anyways, here's what we've got here."

Pointing onto the articles on the page she has flipped to, Velma said, "Ezekial Gallows and Prudence Prufrock were the co-founders of the Crystal Cove Institute of Education, which was the only place of education in the whole of Crystal Cove County at the time of Coolsville's incorporation as a city in 1872."

Then, flipping the page, Velma continued, "At that time, the Institute of Education was housed in where Iwao Takamoto Middle School is housed today, then as attendance grew, the institute outgrew its existing facility, and so they were tasked with finding a new campus site for the school."

Velma then pulled out a map attached to the book and pointed at a red rectangle before she continued, "This site was eventually chosen for the site of the new campus of the Institute of Education."

Daphne leaned forward to take a closer look at the map, then she turned towards the others.

"Jeepers, that's where Coolsville Central High School is at today." Daphne declared.

"Precisely." Velma nodded. "They broke ground for the school in 1904, and two years later, they were to open the new building when the San Francisco Earthquake struck that fateful day."

"And the resulting shockwaves contributed to the Crystal Cove Tsunami that flooded the town and destroyed a lot of the buildings and took away a lot of lives that day." Fred said. "Including that of Gallows and Prufrock as they were opening up the new school building."

"Zoinks!" Shaggy remarked. "What happened after the tsunami?"

"Interestingly enough, the new city was built above the ruins of the old city." Velma said as she flipped a page. "In fact, Coolsville Central High School was built directly above the ruins of the Crystal Cove Institute of Education."

"Hmmm..." Fred frowned as he thought of something.

"Something bothering you, Freddie?" Velma asked as they turned towards the blonde.

"All this time, we were chasing ghosts literally." Fred frowned. "Yet we haven't been able to find a single clue that can prove our innocence."

"Even though the ghosts are key to our innocence?" Daphne placed a hand on her hip.

"They are, but who's gonna believe our ghost story?" Fred countered.

A pause went by before Velma nodded. "He's got a point. If we really wanna clear our names, the only way we can do that is if we return to school and get to the bottom of this ourselves."

"Even after Shaggy's father warned us about the dangers earlier?" Daphne asked.

"I'm afraid it's the only way forward." Fred sighed. "You really think they're really gonna let Shaggy's father and his men take over the case this easily?"

"In a town like this, I highly doubt it." Daphne nodded and sighed. "Sounds to me that we might have to go fishing tonight."

At Daphne's remark, Shaggy and Scooby shared glances with each other and they both swallowed.

"I really got a bad feeling about this, Scoob." Shaggy said.

* * *

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	12. A search and the encounter

Chapter 12: A search at the high school and the encounter

That night, the gang hid behind some bushes near the school's main entrance.

Peeking from his hiding place, Fred scan their surroundings and the school building.

All of the windows are dark, and he took note of the location of the nearest security cameras, which are located at the edges of the building.

After some silence, the blonde emerged from his hiding spot and declared, "The coast is clear, gang."

The others all nodded before they emerge from their hiding places, then they made their way towards the main entrance.

With his set of lock picks in hand, Fred proceeded to kneel towards the door lock and got down to work.

As the blonde jigged at the door locks with the picks, he can feel some sweat forming on his brow.

The school may have yet to upgrade its security system, but there's nothing stopping the alarm from going off should his picks hit something like a chip linked to the security system in the lock.

About a minute went by before Daphne walked towards him and said, "Here, let me give it a try, Fred. You might take all night trying to pick the door open."

"Don't worry, I've got this, Daph." Fred said confidently.

Daphne glanced towards Shaggy and Velma, and they both responded with looks that would suggest their skepticism in Fred's lock-picking skills.

The redhead nodded in agreement, and the duo were right about their doubts on Fred's lock-picking skills, as in the next moment, Fred exhaled and got up before turning towards the trio.

"You know what, how about you give it a shot, Daphne?" The blonde asked.

"Of course." Daphne replied before taking over, and the others turned towards her as she get down to work.

* * *

Not long after the redhead was successful in unlocking the front door with her lock picks, the gang were gathered in the main lobby and looked both sides down the dark hallway.

Then, Fred broke the silence. "Alright, gang. I think we might as well as split up now to search for clues."

"Are you sure, Fred? Shaggy said that he spotted the third ghost near the football locker room, so why do we need to split up if that fake ghost only appeared at one place?" Velma questioned.

"Well, it's just that I thought that we may be able to find something in the library, and..." Fred wasn't able to finish, as Velma soon cut in, saying, "I guess you probably wanted to go with Daphne while I go with Shaggy and Scooby, right?"

"Are you serious, Velma? I mean, that want I intend to do, but not for whatever reason you are thinking." Fred quickly countered.

As Fred and Velma argued, Daphne turned towards Shaggy and Scooby, and the look on the Great Dane's face says it all. _Oh brother!_

"'Oh brother!' is right, Scoob." Shaggy nodded before deciding that they've had enough of the argument and stepped in.

Fred was about to raise his voice when Shaggy stepped in between him and Velma and said, "Guys, let's just stick together. We're losing time now, and let's not get ourselves in bigger trouble than we're already in right now."

He then glared at them as he added, "Does that sound good?"

A long pause went by before Fred sighed, then he nodded.

"Alright, fine. We'll stick together." Fred said.

With a firm nod, Velma asked, "Then, what are we waiting for, guys? Come on!"

Nodding, the gang carried on down the hallway towards the football locker room, though as they did so, unbeknownst to any of them, a door further down the hallway behind them opened up, revealing a shadowed figure.

The shadowed figure was quick in his message as he ordered, "Ghosts! Go get rid of those meddling pests before they become a problem for us!"

"Yes, master." The two ghosts replied as they hovered towards the gang.

* * *

A short while later, the gang walked past the school's Athletic Hall of Fame display that included a soccer mannequin and a football mannequin.

Just as they walked by the display, the ghost of Ezekial Gallows floated towards the soccer mannequin and proceeded to possess it, while the ghost of Prudence Prufrock did the same thing at the football mannequin.

The football mannequin's eyes began to glow red, surrounded by a light yellow glow, and it turned towards the gang.

Just then, Scooby, who was the last to walk by the display, felt a sense of someone watching and turned to look towards the display.

At that instant, the mannequin quickly returned to its un-possessed state by looking back forward without the glowing red eyes or the yellow glow surrounding it.

Figuring that it might've been his imagination, Scooby shrugged before resuming.

Then, to double check that his mind wasn't playing games with him, the Great Dane turned back towards the mannequin and growled at it softly, receiving no response.

Satisfied by the response, or the lack of response thereof, Scooby once again resumed walking down the hallway as he followed the rest of the gang towards the football locker room.

Once Scooby was out of sight, the two possessed mannequins hopped out of the display and began to flex their muscles and legs, then the soccer mannequin waved towards the hallway and the football mannequin nodded.

* * *

Unaware that they were being followed by the two possessed mannequins, the gang entered the football locker room and proceeded to examine the scene.

Velma keeled down near the bench when she noticed some white viscous fluid left on the floor, which in her mind's eyes is where the third ghost was standing at as it and the other two ghosts were confronting Tom Iverson.

Sighing and shaking her head, Velma pulled out a pick from her pick-storing container and dabbed it into the middle of the puddle of fluid.

The rest of the gang looked on as Velma took out a small plastic bag and placed the pick with the fluid into it.

After that, she took out a black Sharpie pen and labelled the bag "Evidence".

"You certainly came prepared, Velma." Fred commented. "Just like a professional crime scene investigator."

Velma smiled briefly, though it was that moment that the possessed soccer mannequin sneaked up to Scooby's back and growled.

Thinking that one of them made that noise, Velma turned towards Fred, placed a finger by her mouth and said, "Shhh!"

Nodding, Fred turned towards Daphne and did the same thing to her.

This went on from Daphne to Shaggy and Shaggy to Scooby until Scooby turned towards the possessed soccer mannequin and said "Shhh!" to it.

Turning back to the rest of the gang, Scooby paused briefly before he realized that he had just shushed at a mannequin and when he turned back to face the mannequin, it growled loudly at the gang.

"Ripe!" Scooby shouted.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed as they all stood up and retreated towards the nearby door.

Just as they were about to race through the door, the possessed football mannequin raced up at them and said, "Going somewhere?"

Then, Fred went up to it and said, "Want to play ball with me? I do know football, pal!"

"Challenge accepted!" The mannequin said before charging towards Fred while the soccer mannequin chased after Shaggy, Scooby, Daphne and Velma.

The four raced towards the nearby exit before the girls split up with the boys at the fork of the hallway, with Velma and Daphne taking the left towards the costume room for the school's drama classes while Shaggy and Scooby took the path on the right.

At the fork, the soccer mannequin hesitated for a brief moment before opting to take the path on the left, going after the girls.

Back in the football locker room, the posessed football mannequin tried to charge towards Fred for several occasions, but each time, Fred managed to duck out of the way in time.

Frustrated, the mannequin turned to other measures. Using her supernatural powers, she managed to grab hold of Fred by the collar of his shirt.

Caught off guard by the sudden levitation the ghost was subjecting him to, Fred struggled, to no avail, as he was levitated towards the nearby wall.

Pinned to the wall, Fred tried to break free, but to no avail. Taking advantage of the situation, the mannequin took a sharp object and charged towards him, intending to stab him.

Just as the mannequin was charging towards him, Fred glanced around and spotted a discarded football within reach from his leg.

Swiftly, the blonde reached towards the football and directed it towards the path of the charging mannequin.

The mannequin was about to come close to him when it stepped on the football and lost its balance. With the mannequin trying to regain its balance, Fred quickly broke free and charged towards it and slammed it towards the nearby wall.

The impact from the mannequin hitting the nearby wall lead to the ghost of Prudence Prufrock getting ejected out, and Fred paused to catch his breath.

 _Better go find the others and get the h*ll out of here!_ Fred thought to himself before racing towards the exit door.

* * *

Meanwhile in the costume room, the possessed soccer mannequin was searching for the girls, who were running from him.

"Come on, come on." Daphne said quietly to Velma as they ran through the row of costumes. "Let's get out of here."

However, the girls soon reached a dead end, and they can hear footsteps nearby, with the ghost of Ezekial Gallows saying, "Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

"Jinkies! Now what?" Velma asked urgently.

Looking around, Daphne saw something and said, "Let's hide!"

A few moments later, the mannequin came to where Velma and Daphne were standing at a moment ago, looking around and peeking through the costumes.

It looked around at the dead end, seeing several costumes and a horse costume lying on the floor. However, there was nothing that caught its interest, and the girls were nowhere to be found.

Giving up, the ghost ejected itself out of the mannequin and flew off.

After seeing the ghost flew away, Daphne, who was hiding in the front half of the horse costume, said, "Let's go now."

Velma, who was hiding in the rear half of the costume, replied, "Right behind you." as they stood up and made their way out of the room.

* * *

Meanwhile, Shaggy and Scooby were racing through the hallway until they stumbled into the school's cafeteria and stopped.

Seeing the closed lids that holds the food in the serving area, Shaggy turned to Scooby and said, "Like, time for a nutritious midnight snack, eh Scoob?"

Before Scooby could reply, the lid suddenly flew off and the ghost of Prudence Prufrock appeared from the empty tray.

Glaring at the duo, the grammar teacher growled, "First, a grammar lesson! You _never_ start a sentence with the word 'like'!"

Surprised by the sight of the ghost, both of the boys swallowed nervously as Shaggy said, "Uh...sorry!"

With that, the duo raced out of the cafeteria as the ghost gives chase.

Several moments later, the gang had raced out of Coolsville Central High School, running for their lives as flames shot up at the front side of the high school.

Watching the gang scatter in the wind, the two ghosts laughing evilly before they flew off towards the night sky.

* * *

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